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-

We discover that we can go further when we push ourselves to the limit. 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 that just like a dog being trained to sit, you train your mind to become the body and go further. It’s what we are born to do.

Expand, evolve and adapt. Yet, we think we can’t do something because we tell ourselves we can’t believe in our minds (not the physical world).

If we tell the mind to shut up, we will discover 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 initially 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. He was the first to run a sub-four-minute mile, but many followed in his footsteps.

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

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

Click here to read V is for Visualisation

Alphabet soup for the soul – “U”

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“T”

T is for Transcend

“Transcend the limits of what you think is possible, and you may 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 you designed and installed 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 installed by one of the many different archetypes you’ve encountered since your birth, then it was put there by someone else, which means that your program is based on someone else’s belief system.

Of course, all of this is okay as long as you know it and agree. 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 wish to can begin installing now, starting today.

To determine what programs we want and don’t want, we must know 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 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 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!

Click here to read U is for Unlimited

Alphabet soup for the soul – “T”

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”  KuteBlackson-                                                                                                       

Life is a journey; the best way to experience it 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 offer, which 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 perhaps it does not, but we can stand tall with our heads held high, knowing that we did everything we could 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 more magic to flow. We vibrate higher and float lighter because our physiology is safe and secure. This will enable things to enter our experience that may have been blocked otherwise.

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

In doing so, I was treated to a miracle before my eyes. The chicks pecked their way out of the egg with the ‘tooth’ on their nose and designed for precisely 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). So these are some of the most significant changes we can ever make to our ideology, and the results are truly magical.

Click here to read T is for Transcend

Alphabet soup for the soul – “S”

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.

If we do not regulate our bodies and emotions, we are at the mercy of our minds and happiness, and we will get stuck reacting internally to external circumstances.

If, however, when we get overwhelmed (which happens to almost everyone occasionally), we stop, breathe and regulate our response, that is what it becomes. A reply 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 an ‘Amygdala Hijack’ coming on, we decide how to respond in a second or two. If we regulate ourselves at that moment, we respond with control; if we don’t, we react.

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

It is when we are repeating programs from our past, a subconscious rewind 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 we don’t like, such as anger, sadness or fear, our body signals us to regulate. If we do not restrict ourselves right then and there, we react, which is 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 react. Still, if we can stop the “amygdala hijack,” we will make better choices, leading to a better life.

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

Click here to read S is for Surrender

Alphabet soup for the soul – “R”

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 is the secret formula that will allow you to chase your dream.

 Whether it is love, money, legacy, fame, family, or many other things, the answer will become apparent, when we question what we want from life.

We may not be able to see the complete Quest; instead, we may only see one or two steps ahead. That is okay. Once we start moving, the following steps will reveal themselves.

There is something we will learn or a person we will meet whom we do not know now, 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. So, it is not something that you can just sit around and wait for.

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

Where will your Quest begin, and where will it take you? Like a GPS, we can enter a destination, but there may be 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.

Click here to read R is for Regulate

Alphabet soup for the soul – “Q”

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 we see abundance all around us, we will find patterns of that everywhere in our lives.

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, starting with how we perceive the world.

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

Once we see the world a certain way, we form beliefs that wrap around that perception.For example, two men 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 the world they occupy determines how they respond.

We have learned about fixed mindset vs growth mindset, which is similar to perception. So if we perceive that we can not learn and grow, then we will not; if we believe in a growth mindset, then that’s what we will perceive.

Our world is arranged by perception; what we believe inside will manifest as an outer reality. Similarly, what we see in our world is manifestation from our internal dimension.

The way we perceive the world will ultimately determine how we approach life. If we see the world as a place without enough to go around, we will isolate ourselves from love and adventure and live a life of lack and scarcity.

Sound 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.

We will form a belief depending on our perception, so the only question is whether you want to live in a friendly or hostile universe?

Click here to read Q is for Quest

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 overwhelm?

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

The Universe puts obstacles in our path to ask, ‘How bad do you want it?’

Then, purposefully sets up obstacles designed to make us stretch and grow.

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

If we run into an obstacle and decide to quit the thing we’re chasing because of the challenges, we don’t want it in the first place. So this is an excellent awareness because we can move on to what we want faster.

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

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

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.

Click here to read P is for Perspective

Alphabet soup for the soul – “O”

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 has never run before and decides that they will run a marathon in 6 months.

Their brain is already moulded a certain way from everything they have seen and experienced until they decide to run a marathon.

On day one, they may tie up a new pair of shoes and run for five or ten minutes. A week later, they could be up to thirty minutes; by the end of the first month, they can run for forty-five minutes.

This daily process will slowly change their brains to look like runners’ brains. After three months, they may be up to an hour and a half, changing their brain and becoming a marathon runner. Finally, six months later, their brain looks like a marathon runner because that is what they have become.

Neuroplasticity is the real-time feedback 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. For example, let’s say we get hurt, and the Doctor gives us a daily pill or tablet for pain.

Eventually, we will build up tolerance and need more. So the Doctor gives us 2, then 4, and then eight pills to relieve our pain.

The fact that we must take the pills daily reinforces in our brains that we are in chronic pain. The result is that Neuroplasticity takes hold and starts to mould our brain to look like the brain of a person in chronic pain.

If we take 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 every 6 hours.

Over time, our brains start to look sick. Neuroplasticity signals big trouble if we do this daily and become victims of our lives.

If we trade in prescription drugs for vitamins, we 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 all become marathon runners.

Click here to read O is for Obstacles

Alphabet soup for the soul – “N”

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 “M”

M is for Mindset

“Happiness has to do with your mindset, not 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 complicated, which happens to everyone and will undoubtedly happen to you at some point, 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 we didn’t ‘think’ we had.

Mindset is beliefs and values mixed with determination and motivation

Mindset proves the saying that “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 everyone can decide which of the two categories they want to be in.

Even with a fixed mindset, you can still decide to implement a growth mindset right now. That’s a decision nobody (except for you) can stop you from making.

Once you decide to grow, 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 something, adjust the timeline and skills needed to hit the mark, and eventually, you will achieve what you desire.

By following these steps, you are creating change in your life. Suddenly, the path becomes a bit clearer, and you start seeing the rewards of your work. 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 to 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 what perspective do you want to have?

Click here to read N is for Neuroplasticity

Alphabet soup for the soul – “M”

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“L”

L is for Love

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” – John- 4:18-

Love is our natural state of being, feeling and emoting.

Everything else is based on fear, and fear is a lie. Guilt, shame, jealousy, anger, envy, scarcity, lack,  all of it. It’s all a lie that has been put over on all of us by the culture scape. Media, church and state, education and social media.

It’s the devil, whereas God is pure love.

The love we feel when we see a baby or enjoy nature.

Fear is usually based on our past or our incorrect predictions of the future. So when we are truly present, we feel only love because we are in the moment, being, doing, and handling; when we get stuck in our mind, we are fearful, and that is where fear arises.We make it up, so, stop thinking and start doing

Let go of the past. Move forward and make this upcoming year the year you accomplish some of the things on your list that you have been thinking about but never started.

Design your year and wrap it up with a theme; last year, during the pandemic, my theme was surrender. The theme allowed me to have one of my life’s most productive and happiest years. Every time I was frustrated or angry with my progress, I asked myself if I was surrendering; the answer every single time was no, I was not surrendering. The opposite side of that coin is when I did surrender, things that I never imagined began happening. What’s your theme for this year?

Click here for M is for Mindset

Alphabet soup for the soul – “L”