Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hiding in the Closet

"You lack drive," she said.

"What?!"

"You have this wealth of knowledge, you feed on it everyday, like an I.V. into your bloodstream, yet still you move so slowly. I'm sure you're going to make it, eventually, when you retire maybe, but you should be bursting at the seams with all the positivity you have."

She's right.

So what's holding me back? While Sigmund Freud's theories may no longer be in favour, he is right that our adult behaviour is often an echo of our childhood.

When I was a young teenager I started to suffer from depression and anxiety. I rarely ever speak of it, rarely think of it, but years of my life were lost in that black abyss. My mother was bi-polar and was heavily medicated for the entire time I knew her. They took me to a psychiatist of course and medicine was prescribed but I refused it. It made me happy alright, but only on the outside. I'd be smiling and playing while still feeling like I wanted to cry. That lie was more painful to me than living the truth of the pain I was in and finding a way through it.

The world seemed so overwhelming at times I would lock myself away in a closet, often for hours on end. Alone with just my thoughts and the occasionally unwilling cat. Talk about being in a dark place in your life. My external situation matched my internal. All darkness and gloom with just a sliver of light beaming in to suggest there was hope out there somewhere after all.

Ironically, the closet that frightens most children gave me the most comfort. I felt safe there. No one to bother me. No one to introduce some new stress to my life. I could relax and try to sort through my feelings.

It became an escape and a crutch. Whenever problems arose instead of dealing with them, I hid. I could no longer function in society at that time. School was simply too much for me too handle and although I went as often as I could, that became progressively less and less. Depression was consuming me.

Finally, fed up and out of ideas my father evicted me (he might have tried listening to any of the myriad ideas the experts kept suggesting to him but my father was a stubborn and shortsighted man. It was his way or the highway). Suddenly I was forced to deal with the world. Not in the limited way of a child but in the very real way of an adult with no one to depend on but themselves. And with no closet to turn to!

What happened? I rose to the occassion, brilliantly. I found shelter, found a job, found better shelter and continued to get promotion and promotion and better accommodation. Met a sexy young slip of a girl from Trinidad and married her. Discovered Anthony Robbins and began dramatically increasing my life. I had gone from mental slavery to success!

Until my marriage collapsed, then I went right back into depression and had to work my way out. Now I had two young children depending on me and a strong desire to straighten myself out so I could save my marriage. The latter never happened but I did get myself back on my feet and proved be a productive father and eventual single parent.

I continued through life, successfully if not as passionately as before until I reached my goal of obtaining a government job, a house of my own and living a happy if limited existence. I was never fully content to remain there, knowing I could do more, should do more, was meant for greater things but although I was pumped full of success thinking, I remain lackadaisical in my approach. Lacking drive.

Why? Because I was right back in that God-damn closet!! Only it was a lot bigger now, consisting of a nice house, a comfortable civil servant job, a selection of good friends and a hobby of collecting movies or video games. Plus the occasional woman but they never seemed to last. That may not sound like a closet. Hell, that's where a lot of the world stops and settles down but it's still a comfort zone that I've grown accustomed to and don't really want to tread out of. It's safe, sound and secure and as long as I limit myself to it then the world doesn't bother me and I can be alone to sort through my feelings - which I spend far too much time doing, as well as helping others with there's.

Doing the 100 Day Challenge as really pushed me into finding this reality.

Question is now what?

In order for me to be truly successful, the 'closet' has got to go. As long as it's there, the temptation to return to it, whenever life doesn't go according to plan, will persist. It's like a trap I keep falling back into. And since I'm surrounded by people at work doing the same thing, it's easy to accept. Thank God I've surrounded my self with people who are also success driven and who won't let me sit peacefully on my laurels. Do I quit my job? Sell my house? Cut off some of my old friends? Then what?!

Then I would finally get my book published, get my website really going, buy a bigger house and maybe find a nice wife to go with it and be right back in an even bigger, roomier closet but a closet all the same! The question I'm facing right now is how to make my life comfortable without becoming trapped in a comfort zone?

Monday, October 26, 2009

I'm Back & Day 31 of the 100 Day Challenge

While it was unavoidable, last week was unfortunate as far as my 100 Day Challenge goals go.

The hours were rather brutal with meetings going from 8:30am until 10:30pm some days leaving virtually no time for anything else. The only thing I managed to find time for was hitting the gym and only twice at that.

So since my last report I really have nothing to report as gains for any of my goals and my relationship goal is now back to ground zero.

If I sound frustrated I'm not. Not even about having to start fresh with finding a 'soul mate'.

I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.
- Thomas Edison

Creeping doubt is one of your worst enemies and I have been struggling with it myself as we all must do.

I was listening to an interview with Helene Hadsell an 80+ year old woman who has used the Law of Attraction to obtain outstanding results in contests winning a house, two cars, numerous trips and a ton of other things.

The interview was a sales pitch but they revealed a lot of nuggets of wisdom. One of the most basic but fundamentally important is not allowing doubt to creep into your mind. It must be rebuked at every turn. One person used an elastic band on their wrist and gave themselves a good snap every time a doubtful thought entered their head.

I love how Helene phrased her method, 'First you Select what you want, then you Project it, then Expect it and finally Collect it.' Select, Project, Expect, Collect, utterly simple in concept, though very difficult in execution, at least at first.

When we visualize, powerfully, emotionally, consistently, we set the gears of the universe in motion on our behalf. However the instant we allow doubt to creep into our minds those same gears come to a screeching halt. If we catch and rebuke the doubt the gears will begin again. However the longer we indulge doubt the more those gears dissipate until they are gone and you are now creating a new reality based on your own doubts and fears.

Of course the world doesn't revolve around mere wish fulfillment, it requires dedicated action but your predominate thoughts also affect the actions you take. If you are totally confident you are going to succeed in something, if you 'know' it, you act very differently than you do if you don't believe that you can accomplish the goal. You take totally different actions. The first is powerful and purposeful, the second weak and half-hearted.

Let's look at Helene Hadsell for a second in this regard.

If she wanted to win a trip to Europe she would seek out contests where the prize was a trip to Europe. She diligently paid close attention to the rules and ensured she followed them to the letter. (When was the last time you diligently studied the rules for a contest? Probably never.) Once entering she would dedicate time to visualizing herself winning. To aid this she would become familiar with the prize so she could clearly see herself there (or in possession of it). She emotionally placed herself there, feeling the excitement and joy of winning. At no point did she allow doubt to enter her mind. She expected to win. She simply knew she would.

Did she? Not always, of course not. But she never let that deter her. God's delays and not God's denials. She merely rolled that vision over into the next contest. Accepted that it wasn't the right one for her to win to feel her joy, or that someone else had wanted it more, but always 'knowing' that her winning the trip (or prize) was assured and if it didn't come from this contest, it'd come from the next. Consequently she's won far more than mere odds would allow.

Another gem she gave was that most people, when they visualize success do it in an excited/anxious way. They are hopeful to win, they really want it, they're really praying for it and optimistic God/the universe will deliver. However that's a different feeling from the grateful tranquility of 'knowing' that God/the universe has already delivered it, you have just yet to arrive. The first is constantly bombarded by doubt, clawing at the seams of your faith, ripping it every time something seems to go against you whereas the second is doubt free. It simple is, there's no question it'll happen, as long as you create the opportunities, God will provide the answer. You don't know when or how it'll happen, just that it'll happen. Period, no ifs, no ands, nor buts.

The same thing is true in relationships. We all know that already but we sure as hell don't always act like we know it. How many of us, myself included, like to wallow in the loss of what we had. How many of us like to put ourselves down and tell ourselves we're not good enough, somehow, to find a wonderful person to be with. How many like to pretend there's no such thing as a good person, that all men cheat and all women lie. Many of them do yes, and possibly every one you're been with but that's because that is your expectation. Maybe not originally but from the moment you got burned the first time, you started associating that with the opposite (or same) sex and drawing more of the same into your life.

I know God has a wonderful woman lined up to be my wife. In fact, I know that he has a multitude and even if I screw it up the first time, there will be another, and another. I look forward to meeting her and living a rich and rewarding life with her. And I know she's coming sooner rather than later and that fills my heart with joy. So I'm not frustrated, no. I'm glad the false attempts are being discarded so that I can step towards the right one, in confidence that it's closer and better than ever.

Same goes with my other goals. I've lost some time and some focus but I'm still heading towards them, still working towards them, still confident I will arrive.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Day 24 of the 100 Day Challenge and I'm off for a week

I wish I had some dramatic news for you today but I don't. Been keeping very busy however there's been no change to the status quo on any front. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes change happens overnight but usually it's the result of tireless effort, a little bit day by day compounding over the weeks and months into something substantial. So the important thing is to not lose focus. On that front I must admit, there are days where my focus has not been as sharp as it needs to be. Especially when life comes crashing in unexpectedly and sidetracks all your plans.

Therefore, I'm now spending 30-60 minutes every morning praying/visualizing. Thanking God for everything I have and for the realization of all my goals.

For the next week I'm out of town at a conference and I'm not sure I'll even have internet connection, let alone time to blog (or do much to progress on any of the 100 Day Challenge goals).

Friday, October 16, 2009

Day 20 of the 100 Day Challenge

Gary Ryan Blair of the 100 Day Challenge talks about making a quantum leap. He defines a quantum leap or leapfrogging as "An advance from one place, position or situation to another without progressing through all the stages inbetween." An example being going from a bank teller to a Vice President in one year.

He argues if you leverage the knowledge and experience of others and act as if success was assured you can leapfrog over all the intermediate steps that people normally have to take to get from one level of success or being to another much higher level.

As soon as I saw that I told my challenge buddy that if anyone in the world should be able to make a quantum leap it ought to be me. I am a self styled expert in personal development having read dozens of books, movies, audio messages, videos, etc. on the subject. My mind is literally stuffed full of wonderful advice that I generously share with my friends and on my site http://www.prestonspearls.com/. So that was my goal, to make a quantum leap and she was to hold me to it.

However, as one might imagine, as time progressed on, I did not have much to show for it despite working towards the majority of my goals on a daily basis. I began to wonder if it was possible, or at least possible for me. If it's possible at all is another question, as I must admit I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing.

Today though was a great day.

Two very significant events happened that have restored my enthusiasm and confidence in leapfrogging forward. The first was my book editor finished and handed in my completed book. She has been very encouraging and insightful. She has also blessedly ripped the crap out of my book. I mean that both figuratively and literally. It's painful to see big chucks of ones work scratched out but one flaw of all writers is that we tend to fall in love with our characters and settings and want to add too much about them. In other words, add more than is strictly necessary to move the story forward.

The second event was that my website http://www.prestonspearls.com/ has now officially started to be developed into a full blown website and not merely a blogspot blog.  Articles and reviews will be broken out into areas of their own, apart from my blog, a forum will be added as well as some free downloadable content and more.

Apart from that this week I took a two day training course in stock market trading.   Studied how to make a successful content website, added a few blogs to http://www.prestonspearls.com/, and received a fitness routine from my friend who is a personal trainer.  Heck, I even did some modeling.

The only goal that hasn't distinctly moved forward to realization is my romance goal and while it's progressed, there's nothing definitive to say there.

If I can get my book published (and sell well) and turn prestonspearls.com into a money generating site then I should be able to quit my day job and work full time on writing and blogging!   Getting paid for what I love to do and having an unlimited potential income.   That's my quantum leap.   From civil servant to self-employed author/blogger.

We'll see how close I am in another 80 days!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Day 11 of 100 Day Challenge

It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was wondering what I could possible do to fill my 3 weeks off work, that would further my goals. I was worried I'd end up wasting the time. I couldn't see what would require to me need 8 hours per day for 15 days to make it happen. For at that point I had nothing planned at all, no goals set, nothing but this spiritual prompting to that the time off.

Now that I'm here, at the start of the time off, I think exactly the opposite. That there isn't possibly enough time in the 3 weeks I have to get even half of what I want done.

I have a manuscript to re-write, a website to redesign/ promote/ create partnerships for, college homework and classes, gym workouts, stock market trading materials I'm studying, outstanding maintenance work for the apartment I've rented out, plus I'm trying to find a new steady girlfriend which requires dating and getting to know different women until I meet one that really clicks.

I'm not sitting around wasting time. I'm not walking in faith. I'm running!! I'm spending my whole day, working towards my goals and I tell you there's never enough time for everything. I'm beginning to wonder if I've bitten off more than I can possibly chew. Certainly I'm at the point where I need to prioritize and plan out my goals now to ensure the most important ones get the attention they deserve.

Monday, October 5, 2009

100 Day Challenge - 10 Days In

It's been a while since I've blogged. Fortunately, it's because I've been keeping myself busy trying to achieve my five 100 Day Challenge goals.

One of those goals is to find a way to really improve my other blog, prestonspearls.com and start generating a significant income from that site.
Part of that, necessitates blogging though so I'm committing myself here to at least 4 blogs a week on each site. Although, not all of those may be mine. I am hoping to have some guest bloggers who offer some different perspectives or venues of self-help be it fitness, finances, coaching or what have you on prestonspearls.com. It wouldn't make any sense to have guest speakers on this blog, naturally.

So, what have I accomplished in 10 days. Not as much as I would like. Old habits die hard and life has a way of constantly crashing in on your plans but I do have some results:

Regarding the blogs - I have one person helping me to learn better network marketing techniques and another to redesign/build a proper website for me. I still need to fully grasp what that will ultimately look like. I'm starting to look at other comparable sites (some of which I will be partnering with) for ideas.

Regarding getting published - I have hired a professional writer/editor to review my book and give me feedback. I've done some research and learned in today's market, at least in Canada you really need an agent. Few publishers will even look at a writer without an agent.

Regarding being financially self-sufficient - Both of the above tie into that, but also I've been looking into trading on the stock market and getting some help with that. Gone to one seminar and going to a two day training session soon. Also getting some research material that I'm studying. Another avenue I'm looking into is selling my blog articles to print magazines or perhaps writing an e-book to sell on my blog.

Regarding putting on muscle mass - I've gained 3-4 lbs and some noticeable muscle size on my arms and chest. Nice! On Wednesday I'm getting some professional coaching from my challenge buddy who is a personal trainer. Thanks Challenge buddy!!

Regarding romance - Well... Let's wait until I have something really concrete before I go sharing anything on that front.

Also I stumbled across the most amazing find. The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. It's out of print and public domain. Therefore, it's not worth it for anyone to promote this book since they can't sell it. However, this is the book that Rhonda Byrne spoke of in the beginning of 'The Secret' and is one of the original sources that brought about today's self-help industry.

I've just finished reading it and if you're ready to accept what it says as fact, I'm sure you'll find this a very powerful read. It has already altered many of my perceptions in life. Amazingly, the website I downloaded the .pdf version of the book from has pulled it just days afterward. I was able to find another here:
http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0304spiritpsych/030412.Wattle.Getting.Rich.pdf

I'm now on vacation, although this is a working vacation as I intend to use the time off to fully pursue my goals. Specifically, to help make what Gary Ryan Blair of the 100 Day Challenge calls a 'quantum leap'. To go from the merely existing comfort level I'm at now to truly living the life I want. I don't think I'm going to become rich in a month, but I do hope to have set the foundation for it to happen. God will do the rest as long as I keep moving in faith.