Get Happy, Be Happy, Stay Happy

See how simple it is? One plus one plus one equals three. Cause and effect. No need to make mystical claims about “creating” or “attracting” a destructive fire.

Read the news article.

See my related post about the San Diego fires and why I can’t stand the teachings from The Secret.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYQdXsp9t1o[/youtube] This evening I’ll attend my fourth Tai Chi class. Our teacher, a Taoist priest and retired university professor, has been doing Tai Chi and other forms for 50 years. He started practicing at age 5. I was almost moved to tears the first time I saw him do Tai Chi. Simply beautiful!

My challenge is that away from class I can’t remember how to do the movements! Also, my body isn’t cooperating with my mind, and I end up creating my own unique form. Sure, c’mon over! I’ll teach you Lanatai Chi.

I found this video on YouTube. His style looks very similar to my teacher’s. I’ve watched other videos, and some of the practitioners look like they’re adding quite a bit of drama and flair. I need just the basics for now.

(This is a clip from the DVD “Tai Chi for Beginners” with Dr. Paul Lam. Dr. Lam is a family physician in Sydney, Australia. Visit his site at http://www.taichiproductions.com.)

Just received word that today is World Internet Day. Hey, Google! Where is your cool artwork?

I love the Internet. It’s a veritable playground for information addicts.

Social networking is another biggie, but that’s not the main attraction for me. I’m so behind the times — I don’t have a profile at MySpace or Facebook. I’m set up at Ryze, but I haven’t logged in for a couple of years. Oh well.

I’d like to check out SecondLife — once I get my first life under control!

Ah, the plot thickens.

Dr. Vincent Gray, a member of the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Expert Reviewers Panel, is calling for IPCC’s abolition. Find out why.

Enlightenment. It sounds so lofty, so full of promise. Who wouldn’t want to be full of light, wisdom and love? Who wouldn’t give their eye teeth to walk around in a perpetual state of bliss, no longer shackled by fear, anger, worry, and other unpleasant feelings?

Sign me up! As long as you don’t call that peaceful state Enlightenment. Or hook it up with a religious or spiritual system that I need to buy into.

The other day I read Bill Harris’ comments about human development (e.g., Integral theory), religion and spiritual states on his new blog. Bill is the director of Centerpointe Research Institute and developer of Holosync audio technology, which helps you to create deep states of meditation. (Bill appeared in The Secret, but don’t let that scare you. He’s one of the few who actually has the facts straight about how to create the life you want. It’s not magic.)

Here’s what he writes (in part) about human development:

Human development takes many forms–humans undergo moral, cognitive, ego (or self), interpersonal, emotional, values, and spiritual development–just to name a few areas of development. A thread running through all these streams of development is our ongoing attempts to discover meaning in our existence, to find some sort of significance.

I suspect that you’ve probably thought about this. Here we are: vulnerable, alone but also part of a larger whole. We’re here for a finite amount of time, and then we’re gone. On one hand, we have a certain amount of control over our existence, while in other ways we’re subject to forces we can’t predict or control. So we ask questions such as, Who am I? Why am I here? What it all about? Why do we die? Why is this happening? How do I know what to do next? How do I relate to the rest of the world, and to other people? What is Truth? How do I know what is right and what is wrong? Can I be happy? How? And so on.

In the beginning, of course, we aren’t asking such existentially complex questions. But from the moment we’re born we do start trying to make sense of our existence. How we do this changes and develops over and over as our environmental situation changes–hence the idea of developmental levels. These are levels of meaning-making, of understanding. You might even say that they are levels of wisdom. …

There are many ways to slice these developmental steps. One broad way would be to talk about four basic divisions: preconventional, conventional, postconventional, and transcendent. Let’s look at these. … <snip>

This fourth stage, or perspective, could be termed transcendent, or unitive. Those at this stage come to realize that all objects–including abstract ideas such as the self, the ego, and even the idea of three-dimensional space and time–are human-made constructs, based on layers upon layers of symbolic abstraction. There is an awareness that language presupposes many things that may not be true about reality, and traps us in a view that may not always serve us.

For instance, the whole idea of subject and object as separate things–one of the main premises in language–is seen by those at the unitive stage as constructed rather than actual and real. Subject and object, a unitive thinker would say, “go together.” They are actually one thing, not two. In fact, all polarities created by the mind (and language) arise together: up makes no sense without down, good makes no sense without bad, me makes no sense without not-me. All of these polarities, say unitive thinkers, are arbitrarily constructed.

At this transcendent stage what I and many others have called a witness perspective allows the person to stand aside and observe what is without adding meaning, without creating a mental map of what is being observed, or at least view things with a realization that all meaning being added is just something made-up. A person at this level realizes that the mental map we make of reality isn’t reality itself, that the map is not the territory it represents.

At this level the existential questions I’ve posed are seen from a very cosmic perspective, where the typical separate self-identity is no longer seen as the essence of the person. Instead, everything is seen from a universal or cosmic perspective–you might say, from an experience of being “one with” everything. Consciousness or rational awareness assumes either background or foreground status depending on one’s momentary attention. This stage is often spoken of as “enlightenment” or “self-realization.” It is estimated that less than 1% of people are at this level of development.

http://www.centerpointe.com/blog/?p=7#more-7

I liked most of his comments. But I found myself wanting to object to the Transcendent, or enlightenment, stage. For instance, I have no desire to be one with, say, my pencil or computer mouse. (I’ll make an exception for chocolate.)

Why are less than 1 percent of humanity at this level? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? (Oops, I’m giving away my stage of development.) What exactly is enlightenment, and is it something every person should strive to attain? Is it even possible for every single person?

Sometimes the striving to reach “enlightenment” can be a terrible waste of time at best; tragic at worst.

From my perspective, enlightenment has nothing to do with being filled with light or gaining special insight or wisdom. It has nothing to do with being “spiritual” or “religious.” “Enlightenment” is simply a brain state — and it can be easily explained by neuroscience.

Today while googling “brain science AND enlightenment” I found these remarkable articles by Todd Murphy, a behavorial neuroscientist and psychologist.

Forgetting About Enlightenment
Enlightenment as a Neural process. A forensic look at the Buddha’s transformation

(Murphy does support meditation because it trains the mind to be aware of positive and negative emotions. Then you can choose which to cultivate and which to prune.)

The Spiritual Personality
The personalities of people who are involved with spiritual practices like prayer, meditation and ceremony are shaped by the altered-state experiences their spirituality creates. The part of the brain that manages our states of consciousness, the temporal lobes, is a little busier in these people than most, producing personality traits that appear over and over among spiritually oriented people.

This article is especially interesting to me. Not too long ago I encountered two lovely people who are on a spiritual path. Unfortunately, they lost touch with reality — big time. They divorced their mates and moved in together, causing their family and friends much pain and suffering. They had trouble carrying on a normal conversation with others, used spiritual lingo that their families couldn’t understand, and seemed spaced out. Their thinking was illogical. “Intuition” and “guidance” became the new rule. Personal hygiene went out the window.

Murphy may provide an explanation:

Another personality trait that spiritual practitioners almost always seem to show is a fascination with spirituality. It may seem to be too obvious to say, but what it less obvious is that spirituality dominates over other kinds of concerns more than other pursuits do. What seems to be happening is that the repeated experience of altered states is so novel, and infused with such a sense of meaningfulness that things which lack meaning in them lose their impact.

Another personality trait that can emerge after enough time in an altered state has two names. In medical terms, its called hyperemotionality. In spiritual terms, its called open-heartedness or more simply ‘being filled with love’. A psychologist might call it ‘extreme vulnerability.’

Most of the time, unusual states of consciousness invoke intense emotional states. TL seizures most often involve fear, terror or a sense of ‘impending doom.’ (Interestingly, there are also dissasociative seizures that seem to have no emotion at all.) Spiritual states are usually pleasant. Everything from simple calm or freedom from fear to bliss or ecstasy.

This extra input to the amygdala has an impact beyond just making for intense moments. It makes the person more emotionally sensitive at all other times as well. Among TL epileptics, it commonly makes for extra irritability. For spiritual practitioners, it seems to be more a matter of an extra need to feel safe. After a certain point in spiritual development or ‘growth’, the aspirant begins to be more careful about the ‘energies’ they connect with. Their own way of seeing it is a bit monastic. Monks and nuns withdraw from the world, avoiding socially intense situations. In more modern times, we hear of meditators ‘withdrawing into their own space’. The need to defend one’s self from verbal assaults, and to avoid those who aren’t like-minded gets more intense. Practitioners become more ‘open-hearted’, and along with it, more vulnerable. Few romantic relationships escape unscathed. If one partner begins spiritual practice, and the other doesn’t, they may soon find that the level of intimacy that’s comfortable for each is now different. Of course, the now-spiritual partner has a new set of interests, and that tends to divide two partners. The practitioner can feel that they’ve ‘outgrown’ the relationship, while the one who’s not doing practice might tend to blame the group their partner joined, or to feel that their partner has taken religion ‘too far’. In fact, one study of TL epileptics found that they were more likely than others to undergo multiple religious conversions. …

In order to go further with this topic, we need to talk about the amygdala again. What seems to be happening is that as the two amygdala get more active, the chances of their falling out of phase with one another increases. Normally, the left amygdala (remember language is on the left) is the dominant one. Normally people process their experiences by thinking about them; thinking in words.

Humans seem to have two senses of self. Left hemispheric, and right hemispheric. The pathways of the human sense of self on each side have been found to include the amygdala. When the two amygdala fall out of phase with one another, the ’self’ on the left can become aware of the activities on the right. The right-sided sense of self is experienced as an outer (ego-alien) ‘presence’. All of this is fairly well established. What I want to add to it, as an hypothesis, is that the two amygdala are out of phase whenever we’re relating to another. (I’ve designed a study that should put it to the test, but lack of funding at present makes it difficult to carry out.) As a person experiences altered states more often, they find that the way they relate to ‘the other’ is changed.

Another obvious effect is that as the left ’self’ begins to lose its mastery over the individual, the person is more and more likely to ‘feel’ their way through situations, rather than thinking about them. One study found that people who experienced altered states frequently were unable to follow scientific, ‘linear’ reasoning.

Still another effect is that, because each time the right-self intrudes on the left, the left-self loses a bit of its control, and because the left is normally dominant, the effect is that the person’s self esteem (while they are in normal states) goes down. As near as I can tell, it stays that way until the person’s normal states are adjusted so that they then have a permanent ‘baseline’ state that allows their right-sided ’self’ to emerge in all circumstances.

Until this happens the person can suffer from ‘the dark night of the soul’, which can come as moments when they doubt their self-worth, or as long periods of melancholy. More often in my experience, such people respond with a specific coping strategy. They become ‘holier than thou.’ In these cases, spiritual practitioners will respond to comments from others with ’spiritual’ interpretations.

You missed your bus? You weren’t ‘meant’ to be on it. How have you been lately? There is no lately: there is only this moment. The person you were attracted to isn’t interested in you? Give your love to Jesus. I seem insensitive? I’m only sharing my truth in this moment. You’re angry about something? It just shows how are attached you are. You’re offended by something? That’s just your ego coming out.

In extreme cases, such people have an answer for everything they don’t care to hear, and each answer shows how ’spiritual’ they are, and subtly ‘puts down’ the other. Its just not possible, for one who is ‘holier than thou’, to feel beneath others. This type of person won’t be free of the inner turbulence that an extra-active amygdala creates, they just won’t feel that they are lower than others. Because we are such linguistic beings, we are very sensitive to words that we don’t like. An easy way to cope is to have a stock of things to say that invalidates whatever the ‘other’ has to say, and to do so in a spiritual-seeming way. If they are successful, they can become gurus or teachers in their own right.

Now, gurus (or masters or satgurus, sufus, tzaddiks, roshis, growth group or workshop leaders, priests, or a ministers) often don’t like to be ‘defined’ or ‘labeled’ or ‘categorized’, but there a category that seems to invite them in. Its a term from primatology, the study of our closest living evolutionary cousins, the primates. You know. Monkeys and chimpanzees. Gurus are dominant or alpha individuals. Within their community, the guru is the boss. He (forgive the sexist pronoun) usually calls the shots. He disperses the donated resources, and if the tradition doesn’t include celibacy, to be his romantic partner is a ‘position’ of some prestige. All other conditions being equal, the guru will be more successful at passing on his genetic material than the disciple. If you become a guru, your self-esteem will automatically rise. You’ve become the alpha person.

In one study of seratonin levels in monkeys, it was found that the seratonin level of the alpha male in the troupe was higher than that of the betas. When he was removed from the group, one of the betas took his place. When his seratonin levels were taken again, it was found that they had risen to the level of the previous alpha. Becoming a guru works against low self-esteem, just as becoming a leader of any kind will bring a person ‘up’.

We’ve been talking about gurus and ‘wannabe’ gurus. Another type we need to look at is the ‘perfect disciple’.

Another way of responding to low-self esteem is to lower your self. The perfect disciple will always see the guru as being higher. Devotion to the guru allows a context where low-self esteem can be acted out in a constructive way. Being subordinate is rewarded in communities gathered around a spiritual master. The Buddhist and Hindu practice of prostrations or pranam allows a person to behave submissively without actually taking on a position of inferiority for those around them. Only the master (and the ‘inner circle’ of senior disciples) is worthy of these gestures. For day-to-day living in the ashram, the slogan seems to be ‘we’re all bozos on this bus’. Outside of their community, their having found the path allows them to discount what others say. They don’t know the truth. Such a believer need not pay any heed to slights or challenging remarks from others.

Source: www.spiritualbrain.com. Reproduced by permission.

Fascinating, isn’t it?

According to Joe Vitale, one of stars in The Secret and a Law of Attraction teacher, we all attracted and helped create the San Diego fires (where several Secret stars have homes).

What everyone is overlooking is that YOU attracted these fires. Me, too. Attraction is not a solitary experience. It’s a dance of energy. If you are experiencing this event, then you helped create it. Rather then blame me for showing you another way to look at it, or blaming anyone for the fire itself, we all might clean on the programming within us that has contributed to it. It’s so easy to get into blame, to think everyone is either innocent or guilty, when it’s neither. The programming is all un-conscious. No one willingly or consciously declares they want a fire. Still, the fire exisis. The meaning you give it is the belief that attracted it. As always, these events are a chance to awaken.

Read his blog post and all the visitor comments.
[Update 10/30: Joe deleted the comments because, "There were many personal attacks, insults, wild claims, and dark negativity." Read his explanation. According to the Law of Attraction, he attracted the attacks, insults, wild claims and dark negativity. What a guy!]

For my blog readers who aren’t aware of a source for such bizarre thinking, Rhonda Byrne based The Secret film and book on the teachings of Abraham-Hicks. Esther Hicks, whose voice (”channeling” Abraham) was included in the original Secret film, claims to dialog with a group of spiritual teachers who call themselves Abraham. Yep, disembodied beings from who knows where in the cosmos.

See photos of what we attracted. Shame on us!

I lived in San Diego for 14 years and have family and friends there. I’m happy to report that all are safe. My heart goes out to those who have lost their homes and dear possessions (symbols of life). No, you didn’t “attract” the destruction of your community or home! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

[Addendum 11/09: If you're interested in reading various opinions about The Secret, check out these letters to the editor of Spirituality & Health.]

I learned about Ron Paul and his message from Dr. Joseph Mercola, who operates one of the largest and most informative health sites in the world, mercola.com. I’m a firm supporter of natural health and integrative health care, and I’m not about to passively watch as our health freedoms get snatched away. This is a big reason why I support Ron Paul for president.

Are you concerned about protecting your health freedoms and the right to choose how to take care of yourself and your family? Are you alarmed about the big games that drug companies and their supporters play? Are you tired of the escalating health-care crisis? If so, read this campaign message below:

Discover what Ron Paul has done as a congressman. Imagine what he will do as president.

When health freedom advocates need a congressman to fight against attempts to restrict access to dietary supplements, they turn to Dr. Ron Paul. Dr. Paul is the leader in Washington who is not afraid to fight the powerful special interests that want to limit access to dietary supplements.

When Dr. Paul learned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was trying to censor truthful health claims by supplement manufacturers, he introduced the Health Freedom Protection Act (H.R. 2117).

“The Health Freedom Protection Act will force the FDA to at last comply with the commands of Congress, the First Amendment, and the American people by codifying the First Amendment standards adopted by the federal courts. Specifically, the Health Freedom Protection Act stops the FDA from censoring truthful claims about the curative, mitigate, or preventative effects of dietary supplements, and adopts the federal court’s suggested use of disclaimers as an alternative to censorship. The Health Freedom Protection Act also stops the FDA from prohibiting the distribution of scientific articles and publications regarding the role of nutrients in protecting against disease,” Dr. Paul explained.

Our health freedom is also threatened by attempts to “harmonize” American laws with those of other countries, thus forcing Americans to live under European-style restrictions of dietary supplements. Dr. Paul worked to add language to the 1997 FDA Modernization Act forbidding the FDA from harmonizing our rules with those of any other nation.

The primary instrument of “harmonization” is the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a group of international bureaucrats who are developing “health care standards” for the United Nations and the World Trade Organization. The FDA is an enthusiastic participant in the Codex process.

When Dr. Paul learned the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) contained language that might facilitate the imposition of Codex’s restrictive standards on American consumers, he informed his congressional colleagues of this danger with a series of letters. In addition, Dr. Paul sponsored several briefings on the issue.

More recently, Dr. Paul has shown how the FDA is working with its counterparts in Canada and Mexico on a Trilateral Cooperation charter that could “harmonize” regulation of dietary supplements among the three countries. Dr. Paul led a congressional inquiry into the Trilateral Cooperation, forcing the FDA to go on record about its involvement in the Trilateral charter.

As a congressman for 10 terms, Dr. Ron Paul has fought to protect your health freedom. Imagine what he will do as president.

Donate today: https://www.ronpaul2008.com/donate/

Support the Health Freedom Protection Act. Send a letter (online) to your Representative asking him/her to support H.R. 2117, the Health Freedom Protection Act.

Then support Congressman Ron Paul for president!

Our most basic freedoms and rights in the United States are being eroded, and I believe Dr. Paul is the best candidate to turn this sorry state of affairs around. This is the first time I’ve been totally happy with a candidate’s record and stand on issues. It’s nice to be able to get 100 percent behind a person, and not be forced to vote for the lesser of the evils.

Here is a synopsis of Dr. Paul’s stand on several main issues.

Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution.

Debt and Taxes

Working Americans like lower taxes. So do I. Lower taxes benefit all of us, creating jobs and allowing us to make more decisions for ourselves about our lives.

American Independence and Sovereignty

So-called free trade deals and world governmental organizations like the International Criminal Court (ICC), NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA are a threat to our independence as a nation.

War and Foreign Policy

The war in Iraq was sold to us with false information. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies, the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them.

Life and Liberty

The right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the American ideals of liberty. My professional and legislative record demonstrates my strong commitment to this pro-life principle.

The Second Amendment

I share our Founders’ belief that in a free society each citizen must have the right to keep and bear arms.

Social Security

Our nation’s promise to its seniors, once considered a sacred trust, has become little more than a tool for politicians to scare retirees while robbing them of their promised benefits. Today, the Social Security system is broke and broken.

Border Security and Immigration Reform

The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked.

Privacy and Personal Liberty

The biggest threat to your privacy is the government. We must drastically limit the ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens’ personal matters.

Property Rights and Eminent Domain

We must stop special interests from violating property rights and literally driving families from their homes, farms and ranches.

Health Freedom

Americans are justifiably concerned over the government’s escalating intervention into their freedom to choose what they eat and how they take care of their health.

Home Schooling

My commitment to ensuring home schooling remains a practical alternative for American families is unmatched by any Presidential candidate.

Read the details here.

If you agree, please donate — now! Here’s the latest campaign news:

October 20, 2007

The clock is ticking. And it is now ticking faster than anyone anticipated.

The New Hampshire primary could be held as early as December 11. Earlier this week, Iowa moved its caucus date to January 3. With these two key states having moved up their dates, we are running out of time fast; especially when you consider the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

So, we’re now in full campaign mode. We just bought $430,000 of radio air time to introduce Ron Paul to voters in New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina and Nevada. That sounds like a lot of money, but that $430,000 will pay for only two weeks. That’s right, almost a half million dollars for only two weeks of radio time in just four states.

You can see that the $5 million we have in the bank won’t last for long; especially when you factor in money for the production and broadcast of high-quality TV ads.

We know Dr. Paul and what he stands for, but most Americans don’t. That’s why we will have to spend millions of dollars for radio and TV to introduce Dr. Paul and his message — our message — of freedom, peace and prosperity to millions of Americans for the first time. And we have little time to do it.

We’ve set a goal of raising $430,000 in three days. Will you help us?

Listen to our new radio ad and donate today. The campaign is in full swing. We have little time.

Please help us broadcast freedom from coast to coast. Go to http://www.ronpaul2008.com/ today.

Thank you!

Kent Snyder
Chairman
Ron Paul 2008

Take a minute to read about some of Ron Paul’s supporters. They are surprising, amazing — especially the articulate young people who really get the issues.

Featured Supporters

Austin Wilkes, University of Alabama student
(he kinda looks like one of my nephews)

Coach and success strategist Philip Humbert teaches success in 3D. I agree with his strategy, but with the addition of a couple more letters — A of S. Read his article below and then my comments which follow.

Success in 3-D

Last summer, I was hired to work with a group of 27 sales people and I was charged with helping them develop and master a “system for achievement.” The VP who hired me made it clear he did not want “another motivational speaker” or a goal-setting workshop. “My people have had that, and generally, they don’t think those systems work. I’m hiring you to bring them something that actually works and that they will actually use every day.”

The system had to be easy to understand, powerful enough to get results, and flexible enough to help them achieve any goal from sales to relationships to spirituality. How would you like that for a contract?

Here’s what I taught them:

1. DESIGN the outcome.

The first step to achieving anything is to design it in every detail. I love Stephen Covey’s famous recommendation to “start with the end in mind.” I also love Michael Angier’s phrase that “clarity is power.” In most areas of life, vagueness is the killer.

When we say we want “more happiness” or “less stress” we aren’t saying anything meaningful. Our brains are confused by a vague wish that things would be “better” or “different” and unless we take the time to define EXACTLY what we want, we mostly spin our wheels and waste time.

On the other hand, if you specify exactly what you want, our incredible minds can usually achieve it. Most people are afraid to be specific, afraid to design the future they really want. If you want a new car, for example, dare to design it in every detail. Do not set a goal for “a new car this year!” Instead specify the make, model, color, special amenities and the date you want it in your driveway.

When you take time to DESIGN the future you want — when you design the marriage, the income, the home or career — you really, really want, your brain will create it for you.

2. DESIRE is key.

The size of your results will exactly reflect the depth of your desire. If you “hope” or “wish” or “wonder” about something, it may (but probably won’t) happen. If you MUST have it, if think about it and talk about it and read about it all day long, your desire will inevitably bring it about.

Many people have had the experience of making a “dream board” with pictures of their ideal home, then contacting Realtors to visit homes like the one they want and found a way to get it, or something even better, in a very short time. Motivation is never a problem when we pursue things we truly want with all our hearts.

But note that the outcomes you have DESIGNED and the DESIRES of your heart must agree! No matter how perfectly you design the expedition and study the route, you will never climb Mt. Everest if your heart’s desire is actually for security or safety or to be “ordinary.”

Design the outcome or result you want, and be sure you desire it with your whole being.

3. DISCIPLINE is essential.

Climbing Mt. Everest is not difficult! It is (I imagine) a simple matter of putting one foot in front of the other and repeating the process all the way to the top. The hard part is the daily discipline of preparing your body and learning the ropes. (Sorry about the pun!)

With modern equipment and a good guide, the hardest part of climbing Mt. Everest is not the cold or the altitude or the danger of frostbite. The much harder part is going to the gym every day. The harder part is the discipline to climb a hundred smaller mountains for practice. The harder part is putting the money in a special savings account, every month. The hard parts are the “small daily disciplines” of preparing to climb Mt. Everest! Fortunately, however, these are also the easiest things to do.

The same is true of learning a new language, changing careers, or sailing the world. The hard part is not the thing itself (if others have done it, you can, too!) but the daily disciplines of preparing yourself for the adventure.

With a well-designed outcome, profound desire, and daily discipline, you can achieve whatever you want. The process is simple. The individual steps are easy, and the results are predictable. But most people never do them. Fortunately, that is not you!

Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Philip Humbert.

Contact him at www.philiphumbert.com or Coach@philiphumbert.com.

Okay, so what is the other key ingredient, A of S? Agreement of Subconscious. You can desire something with all your heart, on a conscious level. But your subconscious, the part of your brain that operates out of your awareness and primarily runs the show, also has to agree. If it doesn’t, you’ll stumble and stagger all the way — if you even stay on the path, that is.

For example, let’s say you want with all your heart to lose 50 pounds. You have the end goal firmly in your mind to weigh 125 pounds by June. You sign up with a weight loss program and are ready, willing and able (at least consciously) to do whatever it takes to eat right and exercise. You start taking the steps. You are willing to forgo the comfort and safety of your warm bed to get up for an early-morning jog. You really, really, really want to lose that weight!

But it doesn’t happen. Why? Barring any physical condition, such as a thyroid disorder, that would keep you from losing weight, more than likely you are working against a subconscious belief. Such as, “It is not safe for me to be slim and attractive.” Or, “If I lose weight and look good, my sister will be jealous and hate me.” Or, “My mom is overweight, and she is extremely loving and giving. It is necessary to be overweight in order to be loving and giving.” (That last example is a belief that one of my friends held.)

It doesn’t matter if the belief is logical or not. Most of the time these subconscious beliefs aren’t true. They were instilled in early childhood when you didn’t have the ability to reason logically.

Is it possible to erase the beliefs you don’t want and program in those you do want? Yep. Stay tuned!

Al Gore. Nobel Peace Prize. Next president? Please, Al, say no, no, no!

Read this press release and you’ll see why I don’t support Gore.

Al Gore Should Win the Nobel Prize for Propaganda, Says JunkScience.com, New BBC Report Says Gore Knew ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ Presented False Facts

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A new BBC report indicates that Al Gore knew that his alarmist global warming movie presented false facts, says JunkScience.com. Al Gore apparently didn’t want to include any uncertainty in his movie because it would only fuel opponents of global warming regulation, the BBC report said.

“If this is true,” said JunkScience.com publisher Steve Milloy, “then Al Gore should win the Nobel prize for Propaganda.”

The report comes in the wake of a British judge’s ruling that “An Inconvenient Truth” can only be shown in British schools if there is a warning label about the film’s nine major factual inaccuracies and on the eve of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Price, for which Al Gore has been nominated.

The BBC report may be viewed here. [Also available here at YouTube.]

“The BBC report and judge’s ruling came as no surprise,” said Milloy. “Our YouTube video debate, entitled ‘Al Gore Debates Global Warming,’ between Gore and expert climatologists spotlights the false assertion by Gore that carbon dioxide drives global temperature,” Milloy explained.

The YouTube video may be viewed at http://youtube.com/watch?v=XDI2NVTYRXU.

“We call on the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Prize Committee to award the prize to a deserving candidate, rather than someone who plays fast and loose with the facts to advance his personal agenda,” asked Milloy. “Also, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should revoke the Oscar ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ won for best documentary,” Milloy said.

“The real ‘inconvenient truth’ is that Gore seems to have intentionally omitted it from his movie,” Milloy added. “The Norwegian Nobel Committee and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ought not risk their brands on Al Gore’s chicanery,” Milloy concluded.

Steven J. Milloy is the founder and publisher of DemandDebate.com, JunkScience.com and CSRwatch.com; an investment adviser to the Free Enterprise Action Fund; and a columnist for FoxNews.com.

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=276995581156478

Milloy isn’t the only one who has a problem with Gore’s global warming hyperbole:

• Seriously Inconvenient Truth: Producers of Gore’s Film Asked to Return Oscars
• Call to return Inconvenient Truth Oscar
• What has Al Gore done for world peace?

I love our planet. I want to see her cleaned up and healthy. But creating lies to accomplish the clean-up is just plain wrong. The cost in the end, including increased human suffering in developing nations, will be much greater than most global-warming activists realize.

It seems that everyone — the public as well as therapists and coaches themselves! — could use some help to understand the differences between life coaching and therapy. Some coaches fancy themselves as therapists. Definitely not a good thing. And some people who need professional psychological help will instead seek out a life coach because coaching doesn’t sound so scary or intimidating. Then there are the therapists who see life coaches as threats to their profession.

I just received this month’s e-newsletter from Dr. Patrick Williams, who specializes in training therapists to become coaches. In one of his articles he points out the critical distinctions between traditional therapy and coaching. This is an excellent article for those who’ve been confused about the sometimes-blurred roles.

Border Line – Understanding the relationship between therapy and coaching
By Patrick Williams, EdD, MCC, Choice Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 3

As the profession of life coaching evolves, it becomes more uniquely defined and described. Over the past decade, many coaches and psychologists have clarified its definition and role (Ellis, 2005; Williams and Davis, 2000; Stober and Grant, 2006; Williams and Menendez, 2007), and these distinctions continue to emerge. Increasingly, life coaching seems to be revealing itself as an evolutionary step beyond traditional therapy. Traditional therapy will not become extinct, but rather it will increasingly serve only those clients who need clinical services. On a continuum, the distinctions between the two fields might be represented as in the chart on the opposite page. As the helping professions continue to evolve, more clarity will emerge regarding which helping professional is the best fit for a client’s current concern. The distinctions between traditional therapy and coaching can be considered in four broad categories.

1. Past vs. future: Perspectives on the process. Therapy frequently focuses on the past and generally assumes the client has a problem that needs solving; coaching focuses on the future and assumes the client is whole and has the innate wisdom and tools to have a wonderful life.
2. Fix vs. create: Why clients come to see you. Clients generally seek a therapist as a resource to fix or eliminate their problem; clients seek a coach to assist them in getting more out of their lives or creating new possibilities in their lives.
3. Professional vs. collegial: Characteristics of the helper-client relationship. Therapy clients generally see the therapist as an expert who holds the answers and techniques to fix their problems; coaching clients see the coach as a partner to support their growth and efforts to create an even better life than they have now.
4. Limited vs. open: How you generate new clients. Therapists are limited in the ways they can generate clients and how readily they can approach others about their services; coaches can be free and open about seeking clients and discussing their services.

Let’s take a deeper look at each of these distinctions…

Read the full article (PDF) from Choice Magazine.

Learn about Patrick Williams and Institute for Life Coach Training

Here’s another great article from Tomorrow’s Life Coach, an e-newsletter from Dr. Pat Williams, that discusses when to refer a coaching client to a mental health professional. The coaching industry often is ridiculed or held in contempt due to its failure as a whole to properly address such important issues. So I think this article is wonderful education for coaching clients, coaches and therapists.

Gear Shift - When to refer a coaching client to a mental health professional
By Lynn Meinke, PCC, Choice Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 3

Have you ever wondered if a particular client might benefit from professional counseling or psychotherapy? Are you uncomfortable raising your concerns with the client? What indicators or patterns should you be looking for to know a referral is appropriate? These questions are important ones for any coach who wants to maintain best practices and honor the principles and ethics of the coaching profession. In June 2002 a controversial article published in the Harvard Business Review suggested that many coaches — those who lack rigorous psychological training — do more harm than good because they downplay or simply ignore deep-seated psychological problems they don’t understand. A number of psychotherapists have similarly argued that some coaches are practicing psychotherapy without a license. In fact, one state wanted coaches to register as non-licensed therapists. Thanks to the proactive leadership of the International Coach Federation, this state licensing board was educated about the philosophy, ethics and scope of practice for coaching and the need to register was dropped.

It is important that the coaching industry thoughtfully address these concerns. A clear response will solidly establish coaching as a unique profession anchored in learning and development. It will also differentiate coaching from the mental health field which has historically been anchored in the medical model of pathology…

Read the full article (PDF) from Choice magazine

In an article about when a coaching client may need to be referred to a mental health professional, author and coach Lynne Meinke notes the top 10 indicators. She is right that the client needs professional help, and I don’t want to detract from her excellent advice. However, these signs may not be signaling a mental health problem, but a common, often undiagnosed physical problem — adrenal fatigue or hypoadrenia.

Here are the 10 indicators that Meinke details in her Choice article (get the PDF):

Top 10 Indicators to Refer to a Mental Health Professional

The appearance of any one of these indicators (except for #10 which must be dealt with immediately), does not necessarily indicate the immediate need for a referral to a mental health professional; everyone can experience a brief episode of any of the indicators. However, if you see that several indicators are emerging or that a pattern of several indicators is developing and that the client is not presenting as whole, competent, capable and resourceful, then it is time to begin discussing a referral to a mental health professional.

Your client:

1. Is exhibiting a decline in ability to experience pleasure or an increase in being sad, hopeless and helpless
2. Has intrusive thoughts or is unable to concentrate or focus
3. Experiences erratic sleep patterns or sleeps excessively
4. Experiences eating problems
5. Is feeling overly guilty
6. Has feelings of despair or hopelessness
7. Is being hyper-alert and/or excessively tired
8. Has increased irritability or outbursts of anger
9. Has impulsive and risk-taking behavior
10. Has thoughts of death and/or suicide

Any or all of these indicators can be the result of adrenal exhaustion. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, take this burnout quiz.

If you suspect that you have adrenal fatigue, I highly recommend that you read Dr. James Wilson’s book Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome.