I was about to write a blog about goals, when the video below came to my attention. Captivated by the speaker, Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, I decided to share her amazing story with you instead.
As a brain scientist, Dr Jill Taylor had the unique experience of studying her brain during a stroke in 1996. While losing her mind, she gained incredible insight into the function of the left and right brain. It took 8 years for her to totally recover.
In May of 2008, TIME Magazine chose Dr. Taylor as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
This is the link to her homepage if you want to read more about her. http://www.drjilltaylor.com/about.html.
Listen to her story and learn how wonderfully we are made by viewing the video below.
She talks about accessing the right side of our brain anytime we want. How do you think we do this? I have an idea but would prefer to hear your thoughts.
I’m going to admit to you that I can be a bit of a scaredy-cat.
I get a few tingles of fear just thinking about parachute jumping. Even traveling too fast in a car along the motor way ends up with my hands tightly clenched in my lap. I’m not too good with speed or heights, as you might have guessed.
It’s not just speed or heights that can produce feelings of fear in people. What about saying ‘no’ to something instead of the usual ‘yes’? Or saying ‘yes’ to that opportunity instead of ‘no’? Or beginning that project that you’ve had in your heart for years and years but just haven’t had the courage to take the first step? There are always reasons why it’s safer to not jump.
‘Do the thing you are afraid to do and the death of fear is certain’ - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Have you ever found that when you make up your mind to take the plunge and actually do the thing that gives you butterflies in the stomach and sweaty palms, that it turns out to be easier than you imagined? And if it was a massive plunge to take, that the sheer exuberance of actually having done it was worth the energy it took?
Have a look at this video. Wonder if “Come back helicopter and get me! I want to go home!” passed through his mind. I’m guessing so.
Relax, you don’t have to snowboard down a mountain! But what thing have you been putting off because of fear, however small the butterflies? How about making a decision today to take a step towards doing that thing you’re afraid of.
It couldn’t possibly be as scary as snowboarding down a sheer mountain face!
Yesterday, I was chatting with a lady at the Post Office and I asked her what she did on the weekend. Her reply “Nothing” was corrected by her friend who asked “What did you buy?” “Oh yes, I went shopping and bought a new stereo unit” “and..”said the friend “And I went out to a restaurant for lunch with my husband” My reply was “That sounds like something to me.”
Which made me think again of how thoroughly spoilt we can be here in Australia. Now, I don’t want to sound like my mother who, when I was a small girl and wouldn’t eat my cold brussel sprouts and runny cabbage, would say “Carolyn, don’t be so ungrateful! Think of the starving children in Africa.” Well, I thought of them but it didn’t make my cabbage and brussel sprouts taste any better.
My husband and I have just gone through 7 years of financial difficulties. During those years, it was sometimes very difficult to remember that we lived in the Lucky Country. So, to remind myself, I bought a plaque to hang on the front porch. It is a bunch of grapes. Why a bunch of grapes? There’s a saying in the Bible which really spoke to me. It goes like this: “Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines.. yet I will rejoice in the Lord”. The bunch of grapes reminds me to rejoice regardless of circumstances. It really helped to look for the Silver Lining in situations. I learned to have an Attitude of Gratitude.
Perhaps life isn’t going the way you’d like it to. Perhaps you can’t see the fruit of your labour at the moment. I want to encourage you to walk through the day with an Attitude of Gratitude regardless. It does help to make each moment more pleasurable. What’s your ‘bunch of grapes’? - please leave your comment.
This video is one way to remind us all how lucky we are living here in Australia.
One of the great things about Mental Toolbox is that it’s not just 3 days of information but it gives tools to use in daily life. One of these tools is meditation.
The term meditation has different connotations for different people ranging from chanting monks in Tibet through to ‘being present in the moment’.
I was introduced to meditation many years ago, but I have to admit that I’ve not done it regularly. It’s been one of those things that I’ve not bothered to fit into my daily timetable.
This weekend has changed that thinking…
I learned that my conscious mind operates in words (yes, I talk to myself too!) and is responsible for only 10% of my behavioural programs.
50% - 60% of programs that are guiding my behaviour are in my subconscious mind - which is also where my values and beliefs live. This part of my brain ‘thinks’ in images, and the more detailed the images, the more the subconscious mind grabs hold of the idea.
So, I can think with my conscious mind that I want to stop eating a chocolate bar every day because it’s unhealthy. I can say to myself “Today, I will NOT eat any chocolate”. But if my subconscious mind has a phrase programed over time that sounds like “I feel sad today and a chocolate bar will make me feel happy, and it tastes so good” then guess what I’m going to do as I pass through the supermarket check-out?!
Over time, this produces a pattern of behaviour….
What has been an “ah-hah” moment for me is, that for my behaviour to change, my subconscious mind must change its belief system. I need to reprogram it regularly. Rather like taking out a record from a Juke Box and putting in a new one - now I’m showing my age
And to do this, I need to replace these phrases preferably in a state of mind that is relaxed so that the subconscious can easily absorb these new programs. If I add images to match my new phrases, the subconscious mind learns even more quickly.
So, I’m taking time to mediate for 20mins before I start my day. The chocolate isn’t a problem but I do have other areas I’d like change in. I use ‘Beyond Success Affirmation CD’ because I like the phrases on it but there are many out there to choose from.
What changes would you like to make in your life that your subconscious mind needs to know about?
What are your thoughts about this process?
Before I go, I’ve hunted YouTube for a decent Affirmations video but I can’t find one. If you know of one, please put the link into a comment to this post.
It’s taken me a few days to settle down after being at the ‘Mental Toolbox’ for 3 days. 200 people all making changes in themselves - wow!
Do you find after attending an inspiring seminar, that you want to apply the information you’ve learnt all at once? Trying to remember everything I’ve heard is the hard part, especially all the juicy gems I wanted to share with you! Hence this Blog.
So, here’s an excerpt from this month’s coaches’ newletter written by Paul Blackburn that got me thinking:
True satisfaction and fulfillment are more likely the result of building/doing/creating something bigger than yourself.
Therefore we need to go in search of the “thing” that will get you out of bed on the days that you otherwise would be tempted to stay in. Rarely have I seen that this “thing” turns out to be personal benefit in the form of money/acknowledgedment/toys etc.
During the Mental Toolbox seminar, we watched a YouTube video about a Dad who found something bigger than him, which did more that get him out of bed in the morning! I encourage you to watch this inspiring real life story.
This Dad wanted an abundant life for his son so much that he was willing to pay the price himself so that his child could live a life he wouldn’t otherwise have. That’s Love.
It’s made me ponder about what ‘gets me out of bed’ in the morning… what puts the “wow factor” in my life. Certainly being a Life Coach gives my life a “why” that’s bigger than myself… a sense of true satisfaction and fulfillment.
What inspired you about this video/story? What gets you out of bed that’s bigger than yourself? Let me know - a Blog really works well when people use it to share ideas with each other.
This weekend I’ve been at the Brisbane “Mental Toolbox” Workshop put on by Paul Blackburn and the team at Beyond Success. What great fun we had! There were some 200 people attending, there was a great buzz in the room!
It’s been six months since my husband and I attended the last one in Brisbane, and what a roller-coaster ride its been since then! The only problem this time was I couldn’t take notes on all the gems I heard, (funny how you can get so much more out of a similar seminar the second or third time ’round!), because I was helping with running mics and doing the support-person bit - which was fun anyway.
I’ll post some thoughts from the Mental Toolbox during the week, once I’ve got some time to collect my thoughts and sit down with a cuppa to write them out!
