Week 16 Kindness

This week we have focused on kindness. Not only our own, but the kindness of others throughout the day.

As the saying goes, “what you focus on grows” and the effect of looking for kindness has been amazing. Instead of going with human nature and just looking for the bad things that happen, looking for kind acts and performing them as well has an immediate effect on you.

This is not to say it is easy. I live in Los Angeles and everyone knows the driving situation with our traffic. Needless to say, dealing with bad, inconsiderate drivers can try even the happiest and easygoing people. Throw into the mix that it has been raining all week and y0u can imagine the chaos that can crop up.

But by focusing on being kind and letting all of the angst go, I have been much happier this week. I can physically feel the difference. And when the person does something unfathomable, instead of going through the normal litany of anger in my mind, I try to focus on thinking of nice things, letting people into traffic and just being nice.

Next week we are going to focus on something else, but I am going to integrate kindness into it as well.

Week 15, It is already in you

The basic tenet of this course is that what we do every week builds on itself. Just like in learning math, if you do not master the simple, basic steps of the foundation of mathematics, then the more advanced concepts will be total confusion.

While we have been working on these “basic” steps, the lesson that has been hit on is that the changes we want and the person we want to be is already in us. It just takes getting the “basics” of the course down pat so we can remove all of the clutter that has built up to suppress the person that is already inside of us.

Just like with the gold Buddha that had been covered by cement, we all have something that has buried our true selves over the years. Mastering the basic and initial concepts and lessons of this course has now led us to be able to peel off the layers of what is suppressing out true selves. We all have greatness inside of us, we just need to get down to the core of it and let it out!

Week 12The Power of the Mind

Doing our daily ritual of conditioning our minds for success has really opened up just how powerful we really are. As has been repeated over and over, nothing has been done in this world without it first being conceived in the mind.

The response of the sub conscious does not know the difference between a major accomplishment and a minor one, they all resonate the same. Training our sub conscious to be bombarded with all of our successes, no matter the size, conditions us to look and strive for success.

It is an amazing feeling to know that the changes that are happening are being done step by step but are still having major affects. And these changes are from my personal and conscious decision to bombard my subconscious with success. Doing this can only lead to my own success and experiencing this effect and knowing how and why it works is very empowering. Doing little, successful things every day is leading me to the massive success that I am destined for!

Week 11 Persistence

This weeks lesson has been an eye opener! We discussed the concept of persistence and how it really applies to everyone, everyday. OF course, my pre-conceived idea of what persistence really is was completely shattered This is becoming an ongoing theme in this course!

One thing that Mark J keeps harping on is that most people look for guidance in slogans, books and seminars. The problem is that we all look for the quantum leap, seeing massive gains in all aspects in a few short days or weeks all because we read a book or attended a seminar. This idea of having quantum leaps applies to the “idea” of what words really mean. What I am trying to say is that we all have an idea as to what a word means and how we can apply that in our life, but through this course I am realizing this is the furthest thing from the truth.

This concept really applies to the word “persistence”. The biggest thing I have learned this week is that persistence means nothing if there is no ACTION attached to it! Most seem to think that persistence is the act of showing up, not quitting and staying the course. While that is partly true, not taking action is a passive activity. Being persistent is an active concept.  Just showing up and not quitting does absolutley nothing to get anyone closer to their goal. If we do not actively do the things needed to further our lives, we are just going through the motions and we might as well quit. The results will be the same.

Now I know that being persistent means showing up every day AND doing the activities that need to be done to grow. The activity is the most important part! Continuing to work hard and “mastering the mundane” leads to growth, there is no other way. Now, when I say I am being persistent, I can look at my activity and know that I am doing what I need to do to succeed.