It’s difficult to see the world in color if your mind only lets in black and white. The eyes are judgment-less lenses to the world. Our perception of what they record is the hindrance we often live by. One man gets laid off (in this economy? you’re kidding right?) and we may judge that as a tragedy. He, however, may see this as a perfect opportunity to pursue more time with his family while he decides his next direction. Our burden may be his blessing.

“Don’t think of organ donations as giving up part of yourself to keep a total stranger alive. It’s really a total stranger giving up almost all of themselves to keep part of you alive.” ~ Unknown

Life is about experience, and part of that is in the perspective you take to experience what you want. What you perceive is reality, right? When you focus on something – I mean, intently focus – the peripheral details disappear. Everyone has experienced the blindspot of reality when intently focused. When you fail to perceive the details around you, and instead focus on what’s directly in front of you, the entire world can change.

This is such a cool place to play for coaches and people who like to challenge circumstance with personal awareness. Many people spend their lives in ‘victim’ roles, and can’t see a way out. “These things always happen to me.” “I’m just unlucky.” “I’ll never make anything like that happen – that dream is just plain out of reach.”

We’re going to play a little game now. Look below and follow the pink dots around the circle. Then stare at the black + in the middle for a few moments. What happens?

When you first see this image, you see the pink dots rotating clockwise. After you spend a few moments staring at the black + in the center of the image, you’ll see a green dot appear to be rotating in place of the pink one. If you keep focusing on that + in the center, the pink dots will slowly, but completely disappear. Wow, if this doesn’t ever prove we don’t always see what’s really there!

This is such a fun lesson, but it’s also up there in importance. I like to use this exercise with clients that see past their own perceived mistakes to make new things happen. I also like to break it out when too much judgment is being held to a perceived event. Sometimes we all focus so intently on the negative that all the pink positive pieces disappear. On the other side of the coin, sometimes we simply can’t focus on the goal, that we simply can’t see any green (money, satisfaction, time, positive qualities) at all. It can be very discouraging.

If you ever have trouble focusing on the goal because all you find yourself surrounded by are pink dots, come back here and focus until they all just fade away! It’s a beautiful life, my friends. Have a great time, and keep your eyes on the direction(s) you want to go, and you’ll never have trouble seeing what you want to.

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you all.

Blake

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I write over at Rent a Smart Guy as well, and this is an article that another contributor, Brian Mattocks, wrote over there that I think goes well with the most recent post here. Definitely head over there and read what we can do for you!

Wisdom is a business worth billions of dollars a year. Many companies, individuals, and social organizations claim to understand it enough to teach it – but few of them bother building the business case for wisdom. Why? Fundamentally, it is because the very notion of wisdom is difficult to understand. What is it, really?

Wisdom in a Nutshell

When I was young, upon coming to a door that was stuck closed, I would attempt brute force to open it. After a few minutes of thrashing and pulling and sweat inducing effort I would give up on that method. Then I would analyze the door and see if I could understand where and how it was stuck. Only after trying to understand the problem could I then devise an approach to open it. Thirty seconds of looking at the problem and 2 seconds of finesse resulted in an open door.

Wisdom is a form of knowledge – but processed in a special way. Wisdom is the applied understanding that comes from knowledge. When looking for wisdom in an employee, they call it experience, insight, expertise, savvy, or know-how.

The definition provided above explains the key problem with businesses and institutions that focus on providing wisdom. Such businesses like self-help publications and seminars; and social constructs like religious institutions; can’t directly teach wisdom. They can only teach around it, because wisdom emerges from the experience of an individual.

The benefit of wisdom is in the outcomes it creates. Wisdom cultivates enduring, positive outcome generating environments. Beyond the single result – when applied, wisdom lays the foundation for more results, or paves the way for more wisdom. An added benefit of wisdom is that it often provides business value along more traditional dimensions like: quality, speed, or cost.

A wisdom based approach to problem solving, for example, looks for “everybody wins” scenarios. A wisdom based approach to patient care is comprehensive. A wisdom based approach to sales focuses on relationships. Each of these approaches build better outcomes than “me first”, “symptom management”, “close the sale” approaches.

There are a few ways to acquire wisdom in a more direct fashion. First, cultivate relationships with those who provide honest and meaningful feedback on your behavior. Second, put yourself in situations that you have not experienced before. Third, cultivate mindfulness. While these aren’t the only ways, they are the clearest path to acquiring wisdom.

However you may acquire it, it is clear that wisdom is a good investment.

Brian Mattocks – Rent a Smart Guy – www.rentasmartguy.com

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“Once an old woman came to Buddha and asked him how to meditate. He told her to remain aware of every movement of her hands as she drew the water from the well, knowing that if she did, she would soon find herself in that state of alert and spacious calm that is meditation.”

“Water, if you don’t stir it, will become clear; the mind left unaltered will find its own natural peace.”

Sometimes we get so caught up in the rattle of everyday life that an overwhelming blindness washes over us. We’re blind to the true nature of the world around us, our place in it, and what we really want for ourselves. We are so in tune with the ‘noise’ that the voice inside becomes inaudible, and we often end up somewhere we don’t feel we belong. Some of us lose our way from time to time, right?

Stillness is such a powerful tool for reconnecting to that little voice. When the mind tunes out the noise, and instead, listens to the calm repetition of breathing, the soul can often take the moment and speak up – often with such clarity. Mindfulness meditation is an easy way to reach this stillness. I personally use an activity (one in which I can focus, and be on autopilot) as a catalyst to stillness. I wash and wax my car to ‘tune out’ the noise.

The calm I get in slowly covering the car in soap and rinsing her clean is immense. I’ve done this a few hundred times, so it’s nothing I really need to concentrate on, but I couldn’t have a conversation while doing it either – and why would I want to?!? I let my mind slowly shut off by focusing on the movement of my hands across the paint, and the shine that I reveal. Before long, I can hear my heart telling me how satisfying this activity is, and what parts of my life it also feels satisfied. I get a chance to really reflect without the rattle of my mind coming into play. This stillness of my mind is priceless.

In the Karate Kid movies, Mr. Miyagi puts Daniel(son) to work by having him wax the car and paint the fence. This not only teaches him Kata Karate movements, but it introduces him to stillness and mindful meditation. It’s often in the stillness that we come to great realizations. It’s almost cliche now, but how many times have you fallen in love with someone in the stillness between the two of you? Think about it!

The homework this time is to practice stillness, my friends. If you know how to meditate, please do that and listen to what your mind and body say when you tune the ‘noise’ out. If you do not know how to meditate, try to simply sit quietly with your eyes closed and concentrate on your breathing only. Concentrate on breathing slowly in your nose, and out your mouth. Soon enough your mind will unravel from its grip on the rattle, and you’ll find peace. That’s where you’ll also hear that inner voice speak to you. It’s incredible what he/she has to say sometimes.

Peace, Love, and a million successes to you all,

Blake

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Free Coaching Session!

With 2010 coming to the half-way point in the next couple of weeks, are you happy with where your year has taken you?  Are there things you’d love to change, improve, increase, or achieve?  Maybe you would only like a little clarity about where you are and where you feel you’re headed on this crazy winding road.  Have you had a day where you left your office for some lunch and thought, “what am I doing?” or “is this really all there is?” or even “man, it would be so incredible if I could only (fill-in the blank)”?

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Audentes Fortuna Iuvat – Fortune Favors the Bold.

- The Applied Happiness Team

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