TBP Open Your Mind

“Learning is the beginning of wealth.
Learning is the beginning of health.
Learning is the beginning of spirituality.
Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins”
– Jim Rohn

It’s raining. No really it is! What do you do when it starts raining? Do you frown and run for cover? Do you mutter under your breath ‘i wish it would stop raining’? Strangely that one doesn’t work (!). Do you skip around with excitement like a young child? Or maybe you ignore it completely and carry on about your business.

All of these reactions are possible, and fairly common. Which do you think would feel the best?

People interpret events differently. The same weather could have people jumping with joy (metaphorically), or hiding away under cover. We all have different filters or beliefs, and these affect the way we see the world, and the way we react to things.

This is particularly important to remember when you are trying to explain something to someone. They may not understand quite what you mean. At this stage you might try explaining it again, maybe by s p e a k i n g s l o w l y, or RAISING YOUR VOICE - but it is unlikely this will make the explanation any clearer to them.

By realising that people view things differently, you could instead explain it a different way. This could be as simple as using less-technical words - they may not be familiar with the jargon or terms you are using.

Another approach is to consider why they want to know. Maybe you could simplify what you are describing (they probably aren’t as keen on the finer details as much as you) they might just want to know what the outcome will be and how long it would take (or cost).

“There’s no such word as can’t”, How many times did you hear that when you were little and didn’t have the confidence to do what you had been asked - or was it that you didn’t want to do something?!.

It is interesting how often people use the word can’t, even when they are grown-ups and the task they are describing clearly could be done, or should at least be attempted with a high possibility of success.

If saying “I can’t” is a habit you would like to change, there are two alternatives:

The first is instead of saying i can’t, say i won’t. This way has a nice honesty to it because you are acknowledging that the task in question is (or at least could be) possible, and that you are making a choice not to do it.

You may find that a bit too confrontational, or maybe not effective enough at encouraging you to attempt new things. An alternative approach would be to ask the questions how can i do that? and what would happen if i did?

Taking this last idea further, you could ask yourself additional questions such as what is the worst that could happen if i attempted this? (and what could you do to prevent that happening?!)

By stopping to question yourself before saying i can’t, you are allowing yourself more freedom and potential for success - which is better than giving up before you start…

“The success secrets of the Ancients.”
“The most inspring book on wealth ever written.”

These are some of the accolades this book by George Clason received, so what is it about, and is it worth reading?

I bought this book over 2 years ago, and i still pick it up several times a year to re-read it. I always feel I get something new from it each time too. The book is a self-help book about money - how to increase the amount of money you have available. However where this book stands out is its unique approach to this popular subject. This is the reason why you should read this book.

Rather than giving a step-by-step ‘do this, then do that’ methodology to the process, it teaches the concepts through seven short stories. These are centered around the life of a simple tradesman in ancient Babylon, and describe his journey from having next to no money, to achieving great wealth.

At first i didn’t like the short-story format of the book, but after a few chapters i had got used to the idea and really found it made the book more readable overall, and definately more memorable.

The stories themselves are short, maybe 15-20 pages each, which makes them very easy to read before bed or during the lunch break. Each of the seven lessons are almost hidden in the stories - more something you realise after putting the book down and whilst thinking over what happened.

Again i see this as a good thing. So many self-help books preach about right and wrong, and telling you why you should do it this way not that way, and so on. It is a pleasant change to learn these lessons in a more subtle manner.

Will you be reading The Richest Man in Babylon?

Is your business like a tree? The following article compares the similarities in an interesting and thought provoking guide. Thanks go to Hirani, the author, for allowing me to reprint this.

A tree is a natural example of a perfect business. It energises us with fresh oxygen while recycling our waste air. It absorbs energy directly from the sun while we still have to digest food. It aligns with the forces of nature. Imagine your business is like a tree. Is your business growing each year and producing ripe results? Or is it stunted and withering.

Here are some ways that you can regenerate your life and business using the wisdom of a seed, a tree and a forest.

1. The Seed That Grows A Forest.
Look at a seed. Perhaps an apple seed. It has an entire apple tree enfolded within it. This one seed can start a tree. Perhaps a whole forest. Now apply the same thinking to your business. What seed vision animates your business? Where is the heart in your business? What makes it breath and live? The answer is YOU. Your business vision must support your life vision. What is my life vision, you ask. Hmmm.

Think like a seed again. Design a lifestyle that you desire. Envision your life in all its many colours, shapes and stages of growth. Create wonderful possibilities. Charge this vision with good feelings. What you feel becomes real. Sow this seed vision within your heart. It will soon grow upwards into your head and outwards beyond your body.

2. The Roots Produce The Fruits.
Whatever you sow, it will grow. A seed grows a complete root system before it breaks through the soil surface. Now if you planted cabbage seeds when you really wanted apples then you will experience a very different result. The results in your life and business are like fruits. They can be traced back to your original seed thoughts. These original seed thoughts grew deep roots. They formed your beliefs about life and business. Your beliefs branched into behaviours. Your behaviours formed habits. Your habits created results. Your results created your life. If you have a major problem area in your life then this is just a result. It could be the result of a limiting memory planted many years ago. For example, a barking dog can still cause anxiety in an adult who remembers being bitten as a child. Certain words capture the power of our beliefs. For example, say the word, STOP, 10 times with feeling. Note the physical sensations in your body. Now say the word, GO, 10 times with ! feeling. Note the physical difference between these two words. The lesson here is to choose words that cause a positive vibration in your body. Changing your vibrations can help to eliminate old root beliefs by shaking them loose from the soil of your mind.

3. Turn Weeds and Toxic Thoughts Into Fertiliser.
The success of your business depends on increasing energy levels and removing blockages. So start to clear out any weeds. I call WEEDS Wasted Effort Energy Drains. Find all the weeds in your life and business. Simply make a list of the 10 most terrible negatives in your life. On a separate paper, write the complete opposite of these negatives. Find their positive equivalents. Like turning your weeds into flowers. Now tear up your negative list and ceremonially burn it. Like burning old weeds in the garden. Now focus on your positive list. Use this list as seeds for positive growth. It is important that you raise your life-force, your energy levels. Weeds, pests and toxic thoughts drain your energy and stunt your growth.

4. Money Is Just A Fruit Full of Energy.
Money is just another form of energy. It is like a ripe fruit. We desire the juicy taste and sweet joy of the fruit. Rather than just the fruit itself. Similarly with money. We want the freedom and joy that money brings. Rather than just lots of money. So focus on all the good things money can create. Imagine you have sufficient money or fruit to feed yourself and a 1000 other hungry mouths. You help them grow their fruit trees so that they can feed others. It is no point in having basket-loads of money yet you are still poor in heart and mind. It is like the greedy king who kept all his ripe, golden fruit in his kingdom for himself. His joy was short-lived when his fruit all started to rot. So the lesson is to be wealthy in mind, heart and bank account.

5. Marketing Lessons of A Tree.
What value does your business provide to the market? Who is your market? Think like a native tree in a forest. How does it attract birds, bees and other animals? Does it use nuts to attract squirrels or shiny red berries for the birds? Does it have bright flowers with a beautiful fragrance to attract bees? The marketing lessons of tree are about sending out good vibrations that attract your preferred customers. Using light, sound, touch, smell, taste and feeling to form a connection. What subconscious messages are you sending out about your business? Your customer s subconscious antennae are picking up signals all the time. Make sure you are releasing a positive message like a flower releasing a beautiful perfume.

So look to nature when seeking new inspiration and ideas. There are many business masters within the classrooms of a forest. So start with the teachings of a tree. In fact, grow one. Grow several. It all starts with a single seed.

Hirini Reedy is a native author, poet, civil engineer, retired military officer, martial arts black belt, NLP master and internet entrepreneur. He shows people how to integrate ancient wisdom with modern success principles using SIMPLE TEACHINGS. Learn more at http://www.maori-secrets.com

The mind is a complex and powerful thing. It is what has helped us become the number one species on the planet, in terms of mental ability at least. However there is a lot of potential which goes unused.

At a basic level the mind contains the conscious, and the subconscious. The conscious mind is all the things we actively think about, the internal dialogue we have with ourselves when we are thinking things over.

The subconscious mind on the other hand is more subtle. It makes decisions without us realising. It handles all the important things like controlling your breathing, heart rate and so on. You have probably just become aware of your breathing pattern now…it has become a conscious thing for you. A few minutes ago when you started reading this page chances are it was a sub-conscious activity.

The subconscious mind is like the back burner on a hob. You can start thinking about something on the front burner, the conscious mind, then move onto something else, and the initial thoughts move onto the sub conscious mind back burner, where they keep ticking along on their own. At some stage later on, you can re-visit the thing you were thinking about, and it moves magically off the back burner and into full view, returning to your conscious mind.

Marketing campaigns often work in reverse. They plant an idea in your subconscious mind, such as ‘using brand xyz soap will make people smile’ and then next time you think about soap (or buying soap) you automatically think of brand xyz. These marketing strategies often either play to your fears or to your desires.

Next time you see an advertisement (on average we see over fifty every day), look closely at what you see. In particular look for the things which aren’t immediately obvious – for example something in the background out of focus, writing on a glass or ice cube, how the actors always smile when they glance at the product been advertised, etc. These subtle ‘hints’ which we do not usually notice consciously are often seen by our subconscious and play a large part in steering us towards a particular product when we are unable to decide.

It could be argued this is a good thing because it stops us from having to make decisions about trivial things like which cereal to eat, but i’d rather make up my own mind…

Do you remember when you learnt to ride a bike? I expect you fell off, a lot? I did!

When you first started off you were probably very unsure what to expect - you knew it was possible to ride a bike because you knew of other people who had done it before, but seeing someone do something, and doing it for yourself are two very different things. You were cautious at first because it was a new experience, and relied on a push from someone to get you started.

As you grasped the basics you would have felt very proud of yourself, until you lost concentration and ploughed into the ground in a heap of legs and bike. Other times you might have been going along concentrating so hard that you didn’t realise how far you’d gone, and might even suddenly have realised you no longer knew where you were going because you had gone straight by your original destination without giving it a second thought!

At some point during your bike learning experience you realised that if you look at the ground and concentrated on the negative things like falling off, you probably did fall off. However by feeling confident and acting confident, you somehow just knew how to succeed, and how to enjoy having control of the journey…

In an earlier article we looked at the different stages of learning we go through when learning a new skill. Here we will discuss how this relates to every day activities, and consider situations where it is not always ‘best’ to have all our skills at the fourth level of learning.

The fourth stage of learning (unconscious competence) is what most of us would call a habit. They are an extremely useful part of our lives - how tedious would it be to think about which way to tie your shoelaces every day? Surely there is a better way to express your creativity! Conversely there are areas of our lives we would like to consciously think about. Clearly there is a balance to be found between having skills we do subconsciously, and skills we carry out consciously.

At school, you learn that 4+4=8. This was probably learnt by repetition, so you automatically know when asked what does 4+4 equal, the correct answer is 8. But what about 3+5? Can that also equal 8, because we know that 8 is 4+4. If we learnt mathematics in this way, learning every possible combination of questions and answers, it would be pretty futile. It is far easier to learn the rules, and then apply these to the questions to reach the answers.

Once you know the rules, the next step is applying them correctly. If you have an ambition of 8, but you are constantly doing the sum 3+4, you are not going to get there. The choices we make given this result fall into three categories.
1: We keep doing the same thing (3+4), and keep missing our target (8). This leads to frustration.
2: We change what we are aiming for, and decide 7 would be an acceptable result. Coincidently what we are doing (3+4) equals 7, so we are now satisfied.
3: We start thinking ‘outside the box’, thinking creatively, and consider other ways of achieving our target (8). With a bit of trial and error, chances are we will reach our target.

Trial and Error could be rephrased as ACTION and ASSESSMENT. We take action, and then see what results that action has given, and if we are moving closer to our target, or further away from it. The action can then be adjusted and repeated accordingly.

The process of knowing which of the three methods you use to attack a problem can only be discovered by consciously thinking about what you are trying to achieve (the target outcome), and what actions you are taking to get there. This is where it is beneficial to step back to level three of learning, and double check if your habit is helping you, or not.