Mobius Monday Minute

# 11 – Jan 31 , 2011

On my Roboform web file manager I have a folder labeled “Happiness” and it’s filling up fast lately.

Just in the last few days I’ve added three more entries. One was for Dr. Robert Holden’s “Happiness Project” one for Lord  Richard Layard’s movement for social change “Action for Happiness” and the other was for a guy named Ludwig.

Then I go to an on-line forum and the top ranking thread is asking readers to suggest ways that they use to become happy.

Hmmm. What’s with all this investigative introspection? I think I know.

We have searched the tops of our mountains, the depths of our oceans, the outer reaches of space and simply found it to be too costly for the gains made. The current world economic climate we live in now calls out for the search for happiness to be brought in line with our budgets.

Today we need our happiness research at the Walmart price.

Throughout history philosophers, ancient priests, and modern-day prophets have urged us to look at our own innerds for the answers to this thorny question. But what they couldn’t convince us of perhaps our sagging fortunes have.

A quick search on Google for the term “happiness” yields close to 89 million web-pages. That’s a ton of talk on happiness to be sure. Searching through all that makes those mountaintops and ocean depths look like child’s play.

Speaking of child’s play perhaps one of the best takes on happiness was the spin that Charles M. Shultz, the creator of the Peanuts character Charlie Brown, described it:

“Happiness is a warm puppy”

Of course, the answer to “what is happiness” must be a tougher question to resolve than that. Entire studies have been launched to look at the problem and such are being reported in the lofty Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

It may be getting some prestigious press coverage but theorists still can’t agree. It’s still baffling.

That, I think, is well summed up by Ludwig himself.  Just look at how confused he was. One day the famously depressed and anxious 20 century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote in his diary “There is no happiness for me; no joy ever.”

Then, just minutes before he died at age 62, he muttered: “Tell them I’ve had a wonderful life.”

If we can get away from the philosophical and get to the practical I think honest Abe Lincoln hit it right when he proclaimed: “Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

I’ll have more on this question in a later post.

For the Mobius Monday Minute I’m David Parsons.

PS: I do cover this aspect of how our thinking operates in my weekly free webinar series called “Mindset Immunity Explained”.

You can gain entry by going HERE.

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Welcome to this edition of Famous Quotivations #6 for December 24, 2010.

‘Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.’

~Albert Einstein

Every Friday I choose quotes that I think are motivating or inspiring.

I recently found this quote on Leo’s blog .

I thought it, and the blog post that accompanied it, to be so in line with the way I feel about the subject of success attainment that I couldn’t resist making it the focus of today’s quotivation.

He claims that he was a success even from the day he started his blog.  He says he had no readers then  but he was happy because he loved doing what he was doing.

Too bad not more of us think like that.

The reason we don’t I believe is because there is a problem with the term “success”. We can’t seem to agree on how to define it. That’s because it means different things to different people and personal opinions can be touchy things when it comes to defining our station in life.

In my work, which I’m very passionate about, I’m often trying to move out value to my clients.  It’s sometimes a struggle. Because what I’m offering is an intrinsic experience and it’s tough to make clear what it’s like before they actually get into the actual experience.

I’m attempting to find a way to explain that I’m out to bring them a state of mindset maintenance that is not too up and not too down but in the middle. Like a teeter- totter that stays level.  It acts sort of like an immune system.  It mirrors the body’s immune system except it looks after the thinking flesh rather than the physical flesh.

That’s my value.

In thinking about success the common thing most people do is to look at the bright shinny objects (hype) that successful people often possess. But there is a reason why they call them “trappings” (stress).

In the early part of this century, when the super-rich John D. Rockefeller was passing on the family mantle to his only son, the treasure trove was referred to as a “heavy burden” and indeed it was to the young John Jr. He grew up terrified of making a mistake.

Value, on the other hand, is about giving something to others. The magic of giving intrinsic value is that it’s bottomless. It never runs out because the more you give the more you’ve got. Giving intrinsic value is the road to happiness because it changes lives with invisible enrichment.

Am I against making money?

Of course not. But let me ask you: Where does monetary success end? As Leo points out, for the wealthy it doesn’t ever seem to.  The feeling of needing to make more is never sated.

Personally, I’d rather stay on the side of more happiness.

Like Leo the simple joy that I get from every experience I witness is greater a value than the money people might pay me for any service that I might offer them. That’s just gravy.

I firmly believe that we need not join in the chase for success but become so resilient to our own failures that a special immunity kicks in and happiness remains intact.

Something that I think, given the season, might be an importantly relevant observation for a lot of us as we ponder our future prospects going into 2011.

More power to you and yours during this season.

PS: Looking for more balance and happiness in your life?  Sign-up to attend one of my free webinars. Put your name and email in the box over there on the right—>

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Today I’m wearing my black hat proudly.

But, lest you think I’m into promoting some kind of subversive web site app let me quickly explain.

Usually the term “black hat” references to some of the more sinister sort of methods used by daring marketers to temporarily get around or outsmart the search engines so that they can gain higher rankings.

But let’s be clear: I’m not into that.

Wouldn’t know the first thing about it anyway. I’m no smarty-ass coder. I hardly know my HTML from my HELP.

So, what’s with the black hat?  Well, see I’m just loosely calling it that because (although it is black in color) it’s my way of demonstrating that what I’m presenting is going to be a tad controversial to those who have interests in the industry of personal development.

I’m going to be putting on a webinar later this month to explain Mindset Immunity and what it means for those who seek better results without getting all hyped or pumped up from teachings that continue to come out of traditional self-help. (If you want you can sign up to receive the announcement of the time and date in the form in the right sidebar.)

In this group I’ll even include the airy fairy LOA stuff as well as the dreamy head-based Himalayan snow breeze promoted by the TM’ers.

Personally I’ve always been uncomfortable with that stuff as well as the stuff that says things like “If you don’t feel happy at least act happy and soon you’ll feel happy.”

Too much lame fakeness for me. I’d much rather have that joy and happiness simmering away, as it usually does, in my gut.

Mindset Immunity, in a nutshell, is about the discovery of new type of immune system. It’s the one that looks after our thinking mindset and it appears to work much like the one that looks after our physical bodies although it’s painfully slower.  The biggest difference is that it’s well… invisible.

But, strange as that may seem, that’s not what makes it all that “black hat”. That term is what I imagine all those gooroos will think it is. See, when people like you find out that you can easily discover that you have a new natural capability, one that’s already in you from birth, and that helps to control your mood towards the positive side automatically, then that could impact the whole industry. Capabilities are more permanent deliverables than information is.

Capabilities can’t be taken away from you by anyone. They are a real thing. An attribute that brings you more intrinsic power and freedom that comes from you and belongs to you. You’re not beholden to anyone and that’s new in this rock-star industry.

Remember, personal development is an industry that hasn’t seen much newness since the dear old Maharishi showed up back in 1958 promising to bring what he said would: “rid the world of all unhappiness and discontent.”

Ok,  maybe didn’t turn out that way for this oblate spheroid we call earth but it did alright for him.

To the tune of millions of moochos moola.

Worth a tip o’the black hat wouldn’t you say?

More power to you.

PS: Tell me what you think in the comment area below.  Or, if you’ve got something cool to say, just give me a shout in the box below.

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One of those days.

You’ve had them, your best friend, wife, or husband has had them.  Certainly your parents, teachers, and peers have had them too.  I know I’ve had a few of ‘em and for me its mostly because I stumbled along and became something I never intended to become.

A pioneer.

You who have been around the block awhile know the old saying: pioneers end up with arrows in their backs – settlers end up with the booty.

See but I couldn’t help it. Ever since I can remember I’ve always been very interested in newness. And it’s led me to this.

Being a pioneer by mefault.

Let me give you some background.

My dad was a successful doctor and so he was his own boss. But he worked in the same small set of offices for over 30 years – his entire career. It was the same office he first had when a young doctor out of med school.  He even lived in it until he had enough money to  buy his first house marry my mother. It was located in an older medical building where the wood floors creaked and the hallways and tired elevator had a stinky musty medical smell to them.

In the end that medical practice, the same one where not one of his children was near qualified or even faintly interested in ever taking over, became a bit of a dog to unload before he could retire for good.

Personally, I didn’t want it because it seemed so routine, too complicated technically and kinda boring. Besides, I never even got close to a med school never mind serving 12 odd  years to train for the job they call doctor.  High school was enough for me.

I liked newness.

So I went to college and trained in graphic art and design. At least the school was new and we were encouraged to create new ideas and that suited me fine. It was interesting and, if you got into the right advertising company, it could be a lucrative career too.

So that’s what I did. But early on I followed my dad’s lead and decide to work for myself after working for another guy for just a year or so. Now, because I was in business for myself, I learned real soon that I’d better work on myself first and that meant getting into the self-development thing big time.

To make a long one short after a while I got quite disenchanted with the poor results I got from all that reading and learning and practicing. I started to investigate the field of personal growth more closely and eventually stumbled onto what would later become my cardinal contribution to this field. The H.E.R.O. eMachine.

But having something created is just half the battle. Still have to get it “out there” in the public awareness. That’s when I realized I’d unwittingly become a pioneer in a whole new segment of this industry.

Something I call, playfully, “organic” personal development because it delivers natural gut-based motivational mysteries that guys like Napoleon “Shill” could only talk about in books. I had conquered the barrier of the imagined for the realness of a new open mysterious portal of intelligence and energy. All of it emerging from deep inside.

But now I had the problem that all pioneers have: cutting an uncharted path through the rugged countryside where there was no path before. Lots of slings and arrows came my way and some found their mark.

For example, at one point my wife and I lost all we had when the bank came and shut down our fledgling goat dairy. After that I was diagnosed with a serious hyper thyroid disease. At the time we we’re both in our mid to late 50’s. Not exactly a good time to seek out a new career.

We’ve gotten over those traumas though so I’m not looking for sympathy here. No, not by a long shot. In fact we’ve both laughed at least once every day right through the whole time of it.

Couldn’t help ourselves. Natural joy and freedom from over-worry is part of the effects of using this invention just once. That’s the kind of thing that H.E.R.O. delivers from the inside of you to the outside instead of the other direction.

That’s been part of the problem. Great results but, till just recently couldn’t explain it very cogently. Better for me if it didn’t work at all – at lease then I could choose to move on to something else the hell with helping others find this most unusual source of adaptability.

At least then I could shake this pioneer career and maybe look for a position as a settler.

Or, maybe not.  After all every day even one of “those” kinds…  has a newness in it.

As usual I’d love to hear your ideas, thoughts and questions in the comments area below.

More power to you.

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The Mobius Monday Minute - This is the first of a new series of posts that will appear every Monday about motivation, personal development, and mindset immunity.

Photo: Morguefile.com

Today I want to talk about one of the biggest mindset stumbling blocks many of us will ever encounter. It’s all embodied in one little three-letter question: HOW?

This question may look tiny on a page but in real life it can pack a wallop of intimidation. Everything from a small crack to a huge canyon.

The difference in dimension is determined by the addition of the kinds of words we use after the word “how …?”.

Example: How can I …? (fill in the problem)  How do I …? (Fill in the area of missing information) How could you …? (Fill in the situation)

The thing is with a three letter question like “How?” is that it looks benign but in fact can be wonderful or it can be woeful.

On a good day it can force inquiry by badgering us for answers.  That’s great exercise in the short term but often none of those answers will be available immediately and the search can quickly escalate into a pile of hard work to satisfy that need to know.

And that takes motivation and drive that sometimes must be sustained for years on end.  All the while that “HOW?” questing keeps eating on us chewing up our motivation and nullifying our drive. It’s that kind of demand for dedicated effort that weeds out a lot of us from ever feasting at the table of success.

The only reason it didn’t stop me cold was because I had made a discovery that, through its very nature, forced me to keep going. It had an astounding effect on my resilience and determination.  I knew absolutely that I had to find a way to cogently describe its cause. I felt that the world needed to know.

That has kept me very future oriented even when small victories seemed far off.

Of course not everyone is going to be able to maintain their motivation over the long haul that’s a given. Success rates in anything are always consistently low.

That’s because this little question with the three letters in it can morph into an excuse to stop altogether.  “I didn’t do it because… I didn’t know how; “… to get the funding; “…to find the tools I needed” “… to talk with the right people.” – just fill in the blanks with your particular situation.

I’ve personally used at least one of those a time or two and, believe me, it is a road to nowhere.

When I first became familiar with the how? question years ago it was when I started to talk about human motivation in the context of explaining the workings of the human thought process.

I’d been using a three-step model that began with the word “thought” and ended with the word “action”.  In between those words was that little question but you wouldn’t recognize it because in this case it was using an alias.

Here it’s called the “analysis”.  It’s an appropriate word though because the word “analysis” means “breaking down” or” taking apart” and that is precisely what it does to our self- motivation.

It is the embodiment of the dangers of the “How?”  We don’t just get stuck in it we get stopped by it.

In my model I use the three stages of an idea as it progresses through the thought process: Thought – Analysis – Action. Can you guess where the most stress comes from?

If you said right in the middle you’d be right on. That is the most toxic of any of the three stages. It’s the ingredient of the destructive force of the three-letter question: “How?”

So, if you find yourself wandering in the land of the “How?” take your exit as soon as you can or use it to push yourself to new discoveries about yourself. Get into some action – any action – and you’ll soon meet with abundant satisfaction and contentment just from learning by doing.

Hey, even if you’re answers are wrong you’ll be better off then stuck in the mire of the three-letter question.

Then, if you want,  you can become a teacher and show others the right path by asking them: – “Anyone here need to know how?”

More power to you my friend.

PS: Have you noticed that a lot of personal development methods no longer pack the punch they once did? Could be the times. I went ahead and invented this simple little brain tweak that makes a huge difference in leveraging your efforts for creating a better version of yourself. Want more? Check out my FREE webinar here.

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Well here it is the start of another work week.  It’s now fall and the it’s cooler now. The leaves are falling off the trees and stuff looks like it’s all dying.

Geez. I used to hate this time of year. Summer’s over and school is well under way. You know what happens then? You start feeling crappy.

Are you having one of those days when you’re feeling beat down, run down, turned down, turned off or used up?

A lot of us are feeling that way lately and no wonder. The economy has tanked, things like houses – if you still have one – (remember those big square things with roofs?) are loosing more and more of their value while at the same time our food costs are rising.

Yikes!  How much can we take.

But hey, take some comfort, it could be worse. You could have been the brains behind the Yodeling Meter. First introduced in 1925 this clever but seemingly useless device was put together especially to measure the pitch of the human yodel. Maybe I’m just thinking like a marketer but I suppose it could have been a real scream during those summer weekend-long parties over at uncle Joe’s place.  Especially after a few of his bootlegged beers.

I don’t know how many of these were sold but I’d doubt if it covered the cost of the prototype, this professional promo photo, and the two lovely models.

Seriously though, if you really are feeling a little less than you’d like to, you should see this.

More power to you.

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