“I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.”
Mark Twain
It’s a great quote from Mark Twain, isn’t it?
Why is it that life seems at times so ridiculously simple and easy and yet a moment later or at other times, it can appear so elusive, frustrating, and complicated?
I think the reason is that we have different parts of our brain operating at different times. Professor Steve Allen who authored the excellent Chimp Paradox, covers this notion wonderfully well by saying that we have three parts of our brain: the Human, the Computer, and the Chimp. And it’s the chimp – the emotional centre of the brain – that creates so much havoc with our lives.
Let’s see it play out now…
Notice how you respond when I ask you this question: what do you want? Notice how you give an intuitive and immediate response, perhaps something like, “I want to be happy… I want to spend more time with my family…. I want to be free to express myself… I want World Peace.” It doesn’t matter what you say, but right there, isn’t there a perfectly valid response? Now, notice how the Chimp mind enters the fray, saying, something like, “that says that’s not much of an answer… I need to think about it… I’m not sure, I’ve tried that before…” and on it goes, incessantly. Before we know it, that beautiful clear feeling and vision has gone!
Here’s another example: we know that eating less and exercising more is good for us, so we have this great idea at the start of a new year to lose those excess kilos and hit the road and with great gusto and enthusiasm we set the alarm for 06h00 as we go to bed.
And then, as the alarm goes off in the morning, our friend – and he/she is a friend, strangely, because he/she is trying to keep us safe and not take any risks! ¬- tells us that we should “take it easy… tomorrow is a better day to do it because it won’t be raining then, and, and, and.”
So, the ship steers off course and we start to repeat those same familiar patterns, the next day, and the day after that, so we get more of what we don’t want.
So, what about from this moment you begin again. I love the notion of beginning again because we can always just, well, begin again! The past is in the past and the future has not yet happened and all we ever have at this moment. So, just begin again tomorrow when the alarm goes off, and this time put it down in the kitchen, or outside, because when that daylight hits your senses, the body gets the signal to wake up!
Now, go forth and multiply!
Please join me in my goal accountability group, called the Your Best Year Yet Mojo Dojo Support Group, and let’s get to work on what matters most to you! Fill out the form, the info is here as well:
Your Best Year Yet Mojo Dojo Support Group
What it is:
Join me and just up to 10 others from my community who want to win this year and make it their best year ever, day by day, moment by moment, and have this year be an extraordinary one.
Why it exists and how you benefit:
Because without this kind of structure – unless you are ultra-disciplined and even then, you are still human – you will not achieve the result of the satisfaction that you know is possible. You and I both know this.
With a structure around you and peers to support you, it becomes more difficult to not produce the results you want that are important to you.
How it works (the below is in the form too.)
- Your name:
- What you do:
- How you heard about the Dojo:
- Email address:
- Contact number:
- What do you really want this year – don’t over think it, just write what comes to you:
- What are you willing to sacrifice that will stand you a very good chance of achieving that? e.g., distraction, alcohol, social media, trivia, time wasting, following through on my promises, going to bed at 21h30 on weekdays…
- The cost is an annual payment of ZAR25,000 or a monthly payment of ZAR2900 per month, or £2,500 or 290 per month. I am in/ I am interested and have some questions. Please call me!
- Click here for form
Note:
- Registration closes on 28th Feb 2023.
- You will receive a link to a Google Document, which will be your master Goal sheet, outlining your purpose, vision, goals, and strategy. You will be sharing this with others, and you will see other’s sheets too.
- At the end of each week, you will submit your results and actions for the following week.
- Every two weeks we will have a Zoom check in on progress, victories, challenges, reflections, and insights, and provide tools, process, and insights to assist us on our journeys.
- You’ll be assigned an ‘accountability buddy.’
- You will receive email and WhatsApp reminders from me.
- We will touch base personally with each other at least twice per month.
Good luck and here’s wishing you a great year ahead!
Mojestically yours,
Si.
