#41 - The Big Leap Part 1 - How Are You ULPing?

Link to book/review

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks PhD is a great book. In it he outlines and provides solutions to the Upper Limit Problem, our tendency to self-sabotage whenever we exceed our self-image in a particular area, for example:

-relationships: arguing with a partner after a period of time where everything is going great
-work: screwing up after reaching a new level of success
-personal: not accepting praise, compliments or commendations

I started looking at my own life and found several areas where I was upper-limiting, where I was ULPing or have ULPed, (for some reason this seems to stay in your head) and came up with several:

-stopped blogging once I hit a certain level of success
-after delivering my first speech and being blown away by the feedback I didn't attend any meetings at my local club for months
-not waiting to accept applause after a speech
-not spending more time with people that challenge me
-feeling so happy and successful in certain areas of my life that I sabotaged others
-not eating/drinking/sleeping enough

As I became more and more aware of this pattern in all the different areas of my life it was pretty shocking. But if I consider the fact we all have a self-image and any growth threatens the integrity of this self-image I guess it is only logical that the subconscious will seek to find ways to bring us back into our comfort zones.

How are you ULPing? 


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#40 - Everything is Everything

Link to book on Amazon

"To know ten thousand things, know one well. It is difficult to understand these realities broadly through the use of words. The realities are mostly intuitive."
Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

The Book of Five Rings (Stephen Kauffman translation) is probably my favourite book. I've always loved its profound simplicity and the razor sharp conviction with which the author cuts to the core. It's written by Japan's greatest ever swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi

#39 - Self-Esteem Part 1: Your Self-Esteem = Your Reality

Greetings Beautiful People

Has anything made you say "aha" recently?

Reading the quote below and understanding it not just intellectually but on a deeper level; walking with it and looking at my life and the lives of others around me it has explained and continues to explain so much...

1) Quote

"The size and scope of your goals will increase proportionately with your self-esteem. When you have low self-esteem, you will attract negative influences that will prevent you from reaching your goals. Take a look at the clients you are dealing with or the relationships in which you are involved. The fact is that you will always associate with people you feel worthy of being with. This includes your friends as well as your clients if you are in business." 

"Take a look at your material possessions. You draw to yourself that which you feel you are worthy of receiving - the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the home you live in. The total quantity and quality of your life is determined by your self-esteem or self-worth."

Dr Robert Anthony, Beyond Positive Thinking

I recommend the book highly, I found the chapter 3 on self-talk "What Are You Telling Yourself?" and chapter 7: "Techniques For Imprinting" particularly useful. 

I'll be doing some more related posts. 

Link to book

#38 - Travelling

Greetings Beautiful People

Timanfaya Volcano, Lanzarote

1) Quote

“When we get out of the glass bottles of our ego,

and when we escape like squirrels turning in the

cages of our personality

and get into the forests again,

we shall shiver with cold and fright

but things will happen to us

so that we don't know ourselves."

"Cool, unlying life will rush in,

and passion will make our bodies taut with power,

we shall stamp our feet with new power

and old things will fall down,

we shall laugh, and institutions will curl up like

burnt paper.”

D H Lawrence

2) Getting Outside Your Box
Just got back from a last-minute break in Lanzarote and it reminded me how important it is to change our surroundings, particularly when you live in a big city like London. I didn't use the Internet and I didn't bring a laptop and one week felt like three. We visited Timanfaya volcano, ran by the ocean at night, ate gorgeous food and soaked up some sunshine. 

I also read a few books and had some major insights. 

I always seem to take quantum leaps forward whenever I get out of the country. 

YT Link

Dx

#37 - Time Management in 2 Seconds

#36 - Love Is On Its Way

Greetings Beautiful People

Wait for the drums to drop...

YT Link

#35 - Acceptance Part 1: The Poetic Paradox by Paul Jones

Greetings Beautiful People

Quick introduction for you; I'm a father, wannabe writer, family support system (immediate, extended & non blood) and a constant pain in my girlfriends arse! I find immense pleasure in conversation, conscious or otherwise and I'm literally the Devil's Advocate elect!
I'll pop in every now and then to share my random mind melts with you... Hope you enjoy.

Acceptance: The Poetic Paradox

"Acceptance looks like a passive state, but in reality it brings something entirely new into this world. That peace, a subtle energy vibration, is consciousness."
Eckhart Tolle

#34 - Basquiat Picasso - 5 Minute Motivation

Greetings Beautiful People

Today I'd like to shine a little light on an up-and-coming video editor who makes great 5 minute motivational videos. 

Basquiat Picasso (BP) is the name of the YouTube channel which posts short motivational videos every Friday. Each video has a specific theme and combines audio excerpts of great speakers with footage of world-class athletes and dramatic music. I find them really helpful for getting a quick boost of positive energy, particularly on those days my energy is low or if I need a little lift in the morning.  

I subscribed to the channel earlier this year after I came across this 5 minute video:

YT Link

# 33 - *On Being A Superhero by Mandy Brewster*

Greetings Beautiful People

Feels like we're gathering some momentum...

Two weeks ago I was at the dentist signing in at reception when I looked up to see this:

One of the ladies in the reception area was kind enough to let me take a picture of the top half of her Wonder Woman t-shirt. In hindsight it would have been better to get the whole thing but I was thinking "WONDER" at the time not "WONDER WOMAN", plus it was an awkward angle with a high reception counter. After taking the snap I said:

"Thank you. It's not every day I get to meet a superhero."

#32 - What Lies Beneath?

Lions in an Ebony Grove, Zambia by Roger Hooper

What Lies Beneath?

I asked what lies beneath, but the Source of All was silent.

I thought I’d been ignored, in fact I felt quite sure.

So I again implored, but this time I asked the breeze.

I couldn’t hear its wisdom whisper, so I asked a tree.

And when the answer came and I saw it was the same,

I thought I’m tired of this game, but knew not who to blame.

#31 - *Ask Karen #1: Meditation?*

Greetings Beautiful People

This marks the first in a series of Q&A's with the lovely Karen Corazon. 

Karen is a shaman from Lima, Peru whom I met in 2008. She has studied  with shaman Don Antonio and studied ayahuasca and power plants for 8 years with the Shiphibo tribe. She is also an ayurvedic practitioner and works with tarot cards too. Easygoing, wise, deep and very irreverent :) she is a powerful healer and a great person to speak to when in need of guidance.  

Our first question came from another friend of mine who we shall call Ms K and it is related to meditation. 

Link to original image @ virginiawomenscentre.com

Q: Are there any precautions or dangers associated with meditation?

#30 - *Rewriting Your Script by Mandy Brewster*

Greetings Beautiful People

"You do it to yourself, you do...and that's why it really hurts."
Radiohead, Just

Today I’d like to share something with you from our first guest contributor, Mandy.

Mandy is a teacher, counsellor and personal/spiritual development coach. She specialises in the treatment of abuse and its connection to social structures and the impact of internalisation of patriarchal values on individuals and the collective.

We all have our own stories about our lives and who we are, however it can be easy to forget that these are often just our interpretations of events up until this point, and to mistake these stories for reality.

What kind of story is your story? Does it serve you? Or is it time for a re-write?

Over to one of my favourite sorceresses...

When We Re-write Our Script by Mandy Brewster...

Link to image @ m1.behance

As a counselling lecturer, group facilitator and esoteric earth adventurer, I find this subject fascinating.

#29 - Boxing and Me?

Greetings Beautiful People

This 500 word piece was my entry into a competition last year entitled: "Boxing and Me?"

At a seminar with the late great Manny Steward, London Jan 2011 

The Arena
Sweat, adrenaline, the smell of cracked leather,
Drained, in pain, I must be insane.
Dizzy, but busy, returning to the well.
Tell myself: "just one more", working to the bell.
Slip, and slide, nowhere to run and hide,
I enter The Arena to see what I have inside. 

#28 - There Is MORE In You

Greetings Beautiful People

1) Quote

"There is more in you than you have been expressing."
Les Brown

#27 - Eckhart Tolle is a Beast

Greetings Beautiful People

1) Quote
When you accept what is every moment is the best moment. That is enlightenment." Eckhart Tolle, Practising the Power of Now


2) The Path to Presence

Link to book on Amazon

I first came across Eckhart Tolle's book "The Power of Now" maybe 10 years ago. I was immediately struck by the incredible presence and clarity that emanated from the pages. I find that when I read I have a feel for the level of consciousness of the writer and in this case I didn't get the sense of someone's ego communicating with me at all, there was such a purity to it.