Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: action, attempt, beginning, Bridge, change, choice, choices, creation, creationism, goals, habits, interesting, launch pad, Modevate, modevation, moment, motivation, neuron, norman adler, NTS Modevations, opportunity, possibilities, risk, success, synapse, value, wobble
Imagine if you will a large gorge, an enormous gap between you on one peak of a mountain and another. You want to get across this chasm and the only way it seems possible to do that is to jump. The good thing about this story is that you can’t get hurt when you jump and if you don’t make it to the other side, you can stop attempting and leave or you can keep doing it over. You notice as you come to the edge and look at the vastness of this rut, that it seems impossible. You have never done this before and you’re certain it will be difficult to get across.
Let’s say as you imagine this that you decide to go for it. You back up to a ready stance and make a run for it as hard and as fast as your little legs will go and as you approach the edge, you slide to a stop like a baseball player coming into home base, losing all momentum precisely before going over the edge and into the deep, dark unknown below. You stand up, dust yourself off and say, “This is crazy! What am I doing? I could get myself killed.” You have a choice in this moment, to attempt it again or go home. For some reason you decide to attempt it again as your mind hounds you and tells you how bad you failed the first time. The mind tells you that you can’t do this, but you go for it anyway. Again, you back up to a ready stance and make a run for it as hard and as fast as your little legs will go and as you approach the edge you jump with all of your might, giving it everything you have as you leap off the edge towards the other side. You realize as you are floating through the air like Michael Jordan that you are not Michael Jordan and you are significantly short of the other side. You are going down into the hole short of the prize. And as though it were magic, you suddenly appear on the ledge where you started.
“Interesting,” you say to yourself, “I didn’t die and I didn’t make it; how cool is that?” So you decide you will attempt it again. For the third time, you back up to a ready stance and make a run for it as hard and as fast as your little legs will go and as you approach the edge you jump with all of your might, giving it everything you have as you leap off the edge towards the other side and……….you miss! Back up to the ledge you go. You ask yourself, “How can I get to the other side? I know I can build a launching platform off the edge of the cliff, if I build it out a little ways, I know I can make it.” So you go about building yourself a launch pad. You make it strong and sturdy so it won’t break apart on liftoff. You finish your creation, back up to a ready stance and make a run for it as hard and as fast as your little legs will go and as you approach the platform you jump with all of your might, giving it everything you have as you leap off the edge towards the other side and……….you miss! Back up to the ledge you go. “How can I do this? It is really important to me that I get to the other side.”, you say to yourself. “What can I do to reach my goal?”
It comes to you in a flash of visionary clarity, “Make the launch pad longer!” That’s it! That’s the secret sauce! You go to work and extend that launch pad out even further, back up to a ready stance and make a run for it as hard and as fast as your little legs will go and as you approach the platform you jump with all of your might, giving it everything you have as you leap off the edge towards the other side and……….you miss! Back up to the ledge you go.
The thought keeps coming, “Make the launch pad longer!”
Over and over and over you make attempt after attempt, each time getting closer and closer to the other side, yet you still fall short. However the thought says, “Make the launch pad longer!” As you build out your launch pad just a little bit longer, you notice that it’s touching the other side of the chasm. You have built a bridge across the chasm and calmly and easily step to the other side. Free to go back and forth whenever you choose.
This is how our brains work. Neurons in our brains jump across chasms called synapses. As they do this your mind is communicating with your body that it wants a certain task performed. As you tell yourself repeatedly that what you are doing is important to you, the mind will begin to create a bridge between the synapse. The more you do a thing, the easier the mind makes it for the neurons to pass over and carry out the signal. As the gap is bridged, the signal travels easily and automatically, it becomes a habit. We call this Mind Glue. The mind glues the bridge together.
There are two types of habits that we form; those that work for us and those that work against us. All habits come about through the same process of repetition. The same process we use to create a habit is the same process we use to break it. It comes about through repetition.
When we are starting something new, we are usually not very good at it. Norman Adler said “anything worth doing is worth doing crappy”. I like to call this phase the wobble. If you have ever spun a top you’ll notice that it seems to spin uncontrollably as though it will crash; yet as it continues its path, the wobbling smoothes out to a controllable circular motion. This is how life works when we are doing something new. We start out being very uncomfortable, we wobble like crazy. As we continue to do it over and over again, it becomes easier and the wobbling goes away. I am of the opinion that when the wobbling goes away, it’s time to wobble again. It’s time to stretch further.
When we create habits, good or bad, we wobble initially until we become proficient at it and when we break habits, we do the same thing. Most people give up during the wobble. They never make it through to smoothness. They never hold out long enough to make or break the habit. The only way to make it through is to hold on for the ride and be conscious that what you are experiencing is all part of the process. How badly do you want those habits? How badly do you want to achieve your goals? That will depend on how committed you are through the wobble.
I challenge you to wobble through the chasms of life. Build those bridges that will ultimately lead to the success you seek.
Choose Up!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: action, aspiration, commitment, destination, flow, goals, Modevate, modevation, motivation, nick smith, NTS Modevations, process, reach, success, vision
Draw a point A and a Point B on a sheet of paper. Point A is where we are in this meeting today, that is point A. Point B is where we would like to be. What are some of the goals that you would like to accomplish? Let’s pick one that we can all agree on and let’s say it’s a trip to Hawaii. How many ways and possibilities are there for getting from point A to point B? Let me hear some… Just pay for it! Put that on there. Is that a possibility for us to follow the path of least resistance, just go from point A to point B? Absolutely! What are some other ways to get from here to there? What if you’re low on money, how could you get to Hawaii? Could you join a cruise or travel company? Could you swim? Could you get sponsored? How many possibilities are there for you to get to your destination? I want you to note for yourself, what is the path for you? There is a path for each of us to get to Hawaii right now. Let me have you start synergizing and yell out the possibilities of going from point A to point B. Write them down! What are the myriad ways we can get to Hawaii with or without money? Let me hear them one at a time and give yourself some time to write them down, because we are going to put all these ideas up on the sheet of paper. Ok? Now if we look at these ideas, are there a lot of them?
Before we go into exploring these ideas, let me tell you the story of a River.
What does a river do that’s unique? A river flows. Does it get from point A to point B? Yes. Are there times when a river just goes straight from point A to point B? Yes, it’s generally called a canal right? Its generally man made, a straight line, although you will sometimes see straight lines in nature, water flowing in a straight line, is generally man made. As a river goes from point A to point B, what will it do? It will say,
“Ok, it’s getting a little hard to keep going in that direction, I’m going to go this direction and then I’m going to go that direction.”
What’s the thing about a river? It’s continually moving forward. It is not stopping and quitting. It’s not saying “This is too hard, I quit!” It’s not saying, “This is too hard, I’m going back to where I came from.” It continually moves towards point B. Am I right? Now a river as it flows, it finds the path that’s the easiest for the river to flow through. How many rivers are there in the world? There are a lot. Am I correct in saying that? There are a lot of rivers. And if each of these rivers has the opportunity to go from point A to point B, why aren’t they all on the same path? If they are all going into the ocean, why not join up into the same river and go right into the ocean? Are there a lot of rivers that do connect to the bigger rivers? Yes, there are a lot of streams and tributaries flowing in the same direction; that connect to these larger bodies of water. Yet, in most cases, they have their own path, they choose their own way. Whether it’s going from a reservoir to a lake or a lake to an ocean, it doesn’t matter, the river is just going to flow even possibly from ocean to ocean, whatever it might be. So, here is the thing, it’s flowing and finding the path of least resistance to get to where it wants to go and sometimes that’s straight from point A to point B? Am I right?
So we want to look at this as a river in going from point A to point B. How many ways are there to get from point A to point B? Infinite ways folks, there are infinite ways. But does each of these have a process and a flow? Yes, and as we get going a long are we going to see things that make us say, “You know maybe this isn’t working to go this direction, let’s choose this way.”? And we choose a different path, does that happen?
So as you look at this, if you were a river and your goal is to go from where you are and let’s say point A is your reservoir and Hawaii is the lake that you are flowing into. Look at all these paths and options you can choose from, which one works the best for you? Do you have to do it like somebody else? Each of you are unique so each of you has the ability to choose your path and it can flow like a river, smoothly and easily or you can start blasting mountains and hope that you don’t run out of resources before you get to your destination. Most of us have been conditioned to blast through things which leads to casualties. We put our head to the grindstone and push forward blasting through relationships, blasting through friendships, blasting through valuable resources and anything that comes in our way. There’s a rock in our way, an obstacle in our path? Blast it! What, there’s a person between me and my goal? Blast him! My family is not supporting me in this? Blast them! And the problem with this is that you may reach your goal, but what good is a drop of water to an empty lake? You were supposed to bring the rest of the water with you.
The beauty of a river is that it nourishes and builds along the way. It gives the gift of life and abundance to all who are in its path. A river does not steal resources from its neighbors. And to all the naysayers who say, “Oh yeah, what about erosion?”, I say “What about deposition?”. A river usually creates more value for those in its path than harm. A river is not in a hurry although it will move quickly when required. A river is unafraid. A river is powerful and serene. If a river runs into an obstacle, it quietly and gladly finds another way. A river moves forward continually towards its destination. A river leaves a path to follow.
When reaching your goals in life, do it like a river would do it. Lift up those around you on your journey. Be calm in your voyage and find the course that works for you, the path that gets you to your destination and leave a passageway for others to follow.
A river does not know the word “CANT” and neither should you. If you choose not to make it to your destination, it shows that you were not committed to the goal. The only thing that can stop you from getting what you want in life is you! It is not the barbers fault or the baker. It is not impossible. It is merely a choice. There is no one in this world who can take credit for your results.
Find the process and flow that allows you to get from point A to point B. Ask yourself, “What are the possibilities and which one makes the most sense for me in this moment?”
If you never stop moving forward you cannot fail. Only quitters fail.
Choose up!
Nick T Smith
