Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“V”

V is for Visualisation

“Visualisation is daydreaming with a purpose.” -Bo Bennett-

 If you can visualise your future and hold that intention in your mind every day, there will come a time when you will meet that future vision in the present moment. You will know because it will feel familiar, it will feel like you’ve been there before, and it will feel right. As if you were expecting it. 

The alternative is not visualising your future and stumbling through life ‘hoping’ for things.  In that case, there is a chance that you will get them, but there is a better chance that you will walk right past the future you want as it appears in front of you.

When we visualise the future we want and focus on it every day, something remarkable unfolds. First, we start to notice as events, people, and circumstances that align with our intention appear in our lives. Then, because we are consistently focusing on that future outcome, our brain (specifically the RAS or reticular activating system) finds and shows us how to do it.

Visualisation, affirmations, intention, and a disciplined work ethic will all lead you to the future you want, but you must also have faith, desire and belief.

When we combine faith, desire and belief, then sprinkle in a bit of visualisation, we will manifest opportunities set up by the Universe so that we can take the path towards our dreams.

It may show up as a conversation we hear on a bus or a song on the radio delivering a message meant for us. The synchronicities spark ideas and become so apparent after a while that now when it happens to me, I laugh a little, smile and say thank you.

In the book the Alchemist, Paulo Coelho said, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you get it”. The way we let the Universe know how to help us get what we want is by Visualisation.

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“U”

U is for Unlimited

“Our only limitations are the ones we set up in our own minds “– Napolean Hill-

When we push ourselves to the limit, we will find out that we can go a bit further.  It’s how we evolve and adapt.

Let’s use running as the example (again). If you run for 20 mins because that’s the limit you set for yourself then the opportunity for growth and adaptation comes in the 21st minute.

You do one more minute because you can. Because you know it’s all a mind game and what happens is, just like a dog being trained to sit, you train your mind to become the body and go a tiny bit further. It’s what we are born to do.

Expand, evolve and adapt. The only reason we think we can’t do something is that in our mind (not in the physical world) we are telling ourselves we can’t.

If we tell the mind to shut up then what we will discover is that we can do way more than we ‘think’.

 And, the most magical part of this process is that when we push ourselves to that breaking point and go past it, the doubts that were originally there disappear and vanish into thin air.

Another reason this is so powerful is that we will start to silence the doubts that arise in the future because we now have evidence that it’s possible. Possible because we have already done it once. Just like the four-minute mile was a wall, a mind barrier until that veil was lifted by Roger Bannister. The first one to run a sub-four-minute mile but look how many followed in his footsteps, literally.

 If you take away one message from this article let it be that “it’s possible”.

That is the ultimate starting point, knowing that it is possible. Work on your belief system until possible is part of your vocabulary and you can truly do anything.

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“T”

T is for Transcend

“Transcend the limits of what you think is possible and you may just find greatness. -Justin Young-

 Transcend time, Transcend space, Transcend your life.

We are all running a program, multiple programs actually.

The question is do you know who installed the program you are running?

If it was a program that was designed and installed by you intentionally and on purpose that’s great. Good for you. You’re probably winning at the game of life.

However, if you’re running a program that was installed by one of the many different archetypes that you’ve encountered since your birth than it was put there by someone else and it means that you’re program is based on someone else’s belief system.

Of course all of this is okay as long as you know it and agree with it. Ask yourself “Is this a belief system that fits with my current values and does it serve me now and in my future.

If you’re running a program that you don’t like or don’t want the good news is that you can design a new program. One that you do want and you can begin to install it now, starting today.

To figure out what programs we want and don’t want we will have to become aware of our behaviours and actions. We must look at the behaviours and actions that benefit us AND the ones that hinder us.

We must flip them upside down and investigate them from every angle. We can uninstall programs that have been running our entire lives and evaluate if life is better without a particular program.

Take things apart, remove habits and decide if they still serve you today. If they do keep them, if not let them go and move on. It may take time and effort but it is a guaranteed formula.

The programs are not just interpersonal either. Music food and sports can all transcend culture, religion and age for the masses.

The programs we wrap around the fabric of our inner and outer world will determine the quality of our life, today and well into the future.

Once we are aware of the programs, it becomes a choice. So, choose wisely my friends and transcend those areas of your life that you know are no longer serving you!

Your future self is begging you!

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 –“S”

S is for Surrender

“When we surrender, we open to more possibilities than we can even visualize or imagine for ourselves”                                                                                                 -Kute Blackson-                                                                                                       

Life is a journey and the best way is to experience is to surrender and let go. Expect nothing and accept everything.

Last year, I chose surrender as the theme of my year.

I can not begin to tell you how many amazing things happened when I surrendered. There were many times when I didn’t want to or didn’t feel like doing something but I reminded myself to surrender and that is always when the magic occurs.

When we make our plan but then surrender the outcome, we have done our part in the creation process.

Maybe it happens the way we want and maybe it does not, but we can stand tall with our head held high knowing that we did everything we could do and let go of the final result.

What happens is that people, events and circumstances will unfold with absolute beauty in our lives. Since we are not expecting or trying to control what happens it allows for more magic to flow. We are vibrating higher and floating lighter because our physiology is safe and secure. In turn, this allows things to enter our experience that may have been blocked out otherwise.

 I am reminded about an example of baby chicks that were born in our home over the winter. Upon hearing that we were incubating chick eggs, my first thought was “no way”. I quickly reminded myself of the theme for the year and acquiesced.

In doing so I was treated to a miracle in front of my very own eyes. The chicks pecked their way out of the egg with the ‘tooth’ that is on their nose and designed for exactly that single purpose; it is used for breaking out of the shell before falling it falls off the nose

Then the baby chicks moved over to the other eggs and helped warm them until their brothers and sisters were ready to break out of their shells. Once this happened, they all huddled together chirping and dancing around. Even the Dog peered in with amazement and wonder at the goings-on inside the tiny community of a cardboard box that acts as a home for these baby chicks.

Once we surrender, if we try to do something and it doesn’t happen then it is not meant to happen (at that time). These are some of the biggest changes that we can ever make to our ideology and the results are truly magical.

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 –“R”

R is for Regulate

“The emotionally intelligent person is skilled in four areas: identifying emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and regulating emotions” – John Mayer-

Regulating ourselves and our emotions is the key to a healthy mind and happy life.l.

If we do not regulate our body and emotions then we are at the mercy of our mind and happiness and we will get stuck reacting internally to external circumstances.

If, however, when we get overwhelmed (which happens to almost everyone from time to time) we stop, breathe and regulate our response, that is what it becomes. A response instead of a reaction.

Daniel Goleman speaks about this eloquently in his book Emotional Intelligence calling it ‘Amygdala Hijack’.

The author says if we feel ‘Amygdala Hijack’ coming on, there is a second or two where we can make a decision of how to respond. If we regulate ourselves at that moment, we respond with control, if we don’t, we react.

When we react blindly and unwillingly, that is when we say and do things that we usually regret.

It is when we are repeating programs from our past, a subconscious rewind if you will, of a former time, event or reaction that we are not in control of. The result is that it usually doesn’t end well for us or those around us.

Goleman determines that Emotional Intelligence or EQ is more important than IQ.

When we notice a feeling that we don’t like such as anger, sadness or fear, that is our body signalling us to regulate. If we do not regulate right then and there, then we react, never a good idea.

When we regulate our emotions, we are in control of our response to things that unfold in our inner and outer world.

Responding instead of reacting can require breathing, praying or meditating (even journalling) about something before we respond but if we can stop the “amygdala hi-jack”, then we will make better choices and better choices lead to a better life.

As you go through your day today, notice the times when you respond and react. Awareness is always the starting point!

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2–“Q”

Q is for Quest

“To begin is the most important part of any quest and by far the most courageous” -Plato-

What is your Ultimate Quest in life? 

What do you want to do?

Is there someone or something that you would like to become? Somewhere you want to see or live?

You can do that thing.

The way to do it is to take belief, faith and desire and mix them together. That the secret formula that will allow you to chase your dream.

 Whether it is love, money, legacy, fame, family or a multitude of things. When we question what we want from life, the answer will become clear in the form of a Quest.

We may not be able to see the full quest but instead we may only see one or two steps ahead.

That is okay. The next steps will reveal themselves along the way, once we start moving.

There is something we will learn or a person we will meet whom we do not know at this moment and the only way to get to that point is to begin the quest.

The puzzle pieces will begin to fit together but only once we have started building the puzzle. It is not something that you can just sit around and wait for.

Action is the key. Belief, Faith and Desire are all important but without action they are nothing more than philosophy.

Where will your Quest begin, where will it take you? Just like a GPS system, we can enter a destination but there maybe 10,000 ways to get there.

the only way to reach our endpoint is to follow the next step, and then the next, and the next until you look back one day and say, wow, I got where I wanted but it didn’t happen exactly how I expected

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2  –“P”

P is for Perspective

“Your perspective is always limited by how much you know. Expand your knowledge and you will transform your mind”                – Bruce H. Lipton-

The world we see depends 100% on our perception.

Our perspective of life shapes the reality we see at all times.

The way a mountain looks or a stormy sky appears is determined by what we perceive at that moment.  

If we perceive life as not having enough, or that life is scary, unsafe or fearful,  that is what we will see.

If instead we see abundance all around us than we will find patterns of that everywhere in our life.

Albert Einstein said “the most important decision we make is whether we live in a friendly or hostile universe”. A decision? Absolutely! We get to decide what our reality is created from and it all starts with how we perceive the world.

What we watch , read and see? What are we put into your mind?

Once we see the world a certain way then we form beleifs that wrap around that perception.

How is it that two men can both have their legs blown off in a war and one is grateful because he did not die , yet the other one becomes depressed and suicidal? The same thing happened to both men but their perception of the event and world they occupy determines how they respond.

We have learned about fixed mindset vs growth mindset and it is similar to the idea of perception. If we perceive that you can not learn and grow then we will not, if we beleive in a growth mindest than that’s is what we will percieve.

Our world is arranged by our perception and what we belief inside will manifest as an outter reality. similarly, what we see in our world is a

The way we perceive the world will ultimately determin how we approach life. If we see the world as a place where there is not enough to go around than we will isolate ourselves from love and adventure and we will live a life of lack and scarcity.

Sounds and sight are electrical signals that are sent to our brain so that our brain can make a guess of what is actually happening. That “guess” becomes our reality.

Depending on our perception, we will form a belief and so the only decision that remains is do you want to live in a friendly or hostile universe?

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“O”

O is for Obstacles

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal” -Henry Ford-

If everyone is overcoming obstacles, the question becomes, what kind of obstacles do you want to overcome?

Obstacles that are put in our path to make us stronger. They are a whisper from the versions of ourselves saying – ‘hey, over here, keep going,this way’

Obstacles are the Universe asking ‘how bad do you want it.’

Then, purposefully setting up obstacles designed to male us stretch and grow.

Obstacles allow us to fail forward so we can determine what we want and what we don’t.

If we run into an obstacle and we decide to quit the thing we’re chasing because of the obstacles; the truth is that we didn’t really want it in the first place. Which is a great awareness to have because we can move on to what we really want faster.

However, if we push past the obstacle, that is when we adapt.

Additionally, pushing through obstacles is how we know we are going down the right path..

We all have obstacles that we must face. That’s a part of life. The more projects, money or responsibility we have, the more obstacles we will face.

Just remember that obstacles are signals of what we truly want.

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 – “N”

N is for Neuroplasticity

“Neuroplasticity research showed that the brain changes its very structure with each different activity it performs, perfecting its circuits so it is better suited to the task at hand.” -Naveen Jain-

Simply put, Neuroplasticity is the way our brain changes.

The easiest way to explain this is an example of someone who never ran before and decide’s that they are going to run a marathon in 6 months.

Their brain is already molded a certain way from everything they have seen and experienced in their life up until the moment they decide to run a marathon.

On day one they may tie up a new pair of shoes and run for 5 or 10 minutes. A week later they could be up to 30 minutes and by the end of the first month, they can run for 45 minutes.

This daily process will slowly change their brain to look like the brain of a runner. After 3 months they may be up to an hour and a half and they are in the process of changing their brain and becoming a marathon runner. 6 months later their brain looks like a marathon runner because that is what they have become.

Neuroplasticity is the real-time feedback (that we can’t see) of BECOMING something. It is not about the actual marathon day. It is about who they become in the process.

Neuroplasticity can work the opposite way too. Let’s say we get hurt and the doctor gives us a pill or tablet for pian that we take every day.

Eventually, we build up a tolerance and need more. The Doctor gives us 2 then 4 and then 8 pills to relieve our pain.

The fact that we have to take the pills every day is reinforcement to our brain that we are in chronic pain. The result is that neuroplasticity takes hold and starts to mold our brain to look like the brain of a person in chronic pain.

If we are taking pills three or four times a day, the interval between the time we tell ourselves we are in pain is cut in by half or even to every 6 hours.

Over time our brain starts to look like we are really sick. If we do this day after day and year after year, neuroplasticity signals big trouble for us and we become a victim of our lives.

If instead, we trade in prescription drugs for vitamins we send a signal to our brain that we are healthy and our brain will start to look healthy again.

The great thing is that we can start to change today until we become the marathon runner.

Alpahabet soup for the soul vol.2 “M”

M is for Mindset

“Happiness has to do with your mindset, not with outside circumstance.”

– Steve Maraboli-

Mindset is everything. Mindset determines if you will accomplish the things, you set out to do. Mindset determines if you will get back up when you fall, and mindset will let you fail forward.

Mindset keeps you going when things get difficult, which happens to everyone and will for sure happen to you at some point in 2022, 100%.

Mindset will help you cross the finish line when you feel like the tank is empty. It allows us to dig deep when there seems to be nothing left and it helps us find that extra reserve that we didn’t ‘think’ we had.

Mindset is beliefs and values, mixed with determination and motivation

Mindset proves the saying that “In order to have the things others don’t, we have to do the things that others won’t”.

Carrol Dweck talks elegantly about Fixed mindset vs Growth mindset. The research on fixed vs growth mindset tells us that every person has the opportunity to decide which of the two categories they want to be in.

Even if you’ve had a fixed mindset your entire life; you can change to a growth mindset right now. That’s a decision that nobody (except for you) can stop you from making.

Once the decision to grow is made then you start by writing down what you want. Here is where you make a plan for your future. The next step is to follow and measure your progress along the way.

Inevitably you will hit some targets and miss others. When you miss, just make the necessary adjustment to the timelines and skills needed so that you will hit the target and eventually you will achieve what it is that you desire.

By following these steps you are creating change in your life. All of a sudden the path becomes a bit clearer and you start seeing the rewards of the work you’re doing. All this stems from adopting a growth mindset.

Another truth Carol Dweck’s research shows us is that a fixed mindset means you are a victim of your circumstances and believe that you can’t change, however; a growth mindset knows that change is not just possible but is necessary for those who want a different outcome.

Most importantly, this hypothesis teaches us that the growth mindset believes the power grow and change is within anyone who decides to walk that path. The growth mindset does not see failure as the end but as one more way not to do something.

So don’t ask what kind of mindset you have, but rather, what mindset do you want to have?