Reality in the Movies

Walt Disney told us long ago that “If you can dream it you can do it.” 

And there is no place where this is truer than at the movies.

In 1985 Back to the Future took us to the dream world of time travel.

In this world there are apparently ongoing and limitless opportunities to dip in and out of an infinite number of simultaneously occurring realities, with the possibility of experiencing the changed reality you create in the future by tinkering with events of the past.  All this is possible simply by climbing into a time machine in the shape of a plutonium powered DeLorean.

In Sliding Doors Gwyneth Paltrow’s character is provided with the opportunity to contrast the parallel realities of two alternativelives, each of which is determined by the outcome of whether or not she manages to catch a train.  This one “crossroads point” has a massive compounded effect upon the ultimate outcome of her life.

Most recently in Source Code a bewildered helicopter pilot is provided with an 8 minute window of opportunity to revisit a specific point in the past (via someone else’s memory) to heroically alter the events of the future.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you choose to look at it, most of us do not have access to a time travelling DeLorean or the benefit of actually getting to see what the comparative results of catching or missing a train might be.  And science has yet to advance to the point of allowing us to piggy back onto the memories of others for the benefit of a future reality.

If we wish to  change our future reality, gain a vision of what the future holds for us and create heroic contributions to events that are yet to unfold, what we do have is the ability to make conscious choices based on a well thought out plan with a clearly defined aim.

By seeking out and using the principles upon which Your Life Rules is based, we are provided with the opportunity to distill key determining factors from the past into Rules we can use in the future to create the reality of our choosing.

Following these principles provides the opportunity to pre-determine how your life will turn out  based on creating it first in your head through your thoughts and imagination, and then creating and clarifying it on paper , and then thirdly by going out and creating it in reality by following the rules every day, with every decision so that they ultimately guide you to the exact spot where the reality of your creation exists.

You can get a glimpse of alternate realities along the way as you experience and witness occurrence in your life that don’t fit the reality you created but occur as a reminder of the alternatives that await you if you do not pursue the plans, goals and blueprint which you have created for yourself, with persistence, passion and unwavering determination.

This is currently the only way we have to consciously affect our current reality and potential future .  We have our own desire, creativity and most importantly our ability to choose.  Choose wisely.  Every choice is either taking your towards your ultimate, carefully crafted reality or it is taking you towards an unknown reality, one in which our circumstances are ones we may never have chosen.  A reality in which we feel out of control, frustrated and dissatisfied.

Take advantage of this opportunity to make Your Life Rule by creating your reality through conscious choice.

“Each second you can be reborn.  Each second there can be a new beginning.  It is choice.  It is your choice” Clearwater

Next Post: Training For Life

The 7 P’s of Disciplined Activity – Part 2

(This is part 2 of a 2 part post.  Click here to go to Part 1)

So, we are 7-Stepping our way to Disciplined Activity and have so far:

1. discovered a foundation based on Passion,
2. brought clarity by defining Purpose
3. created order through Planning; and
4. have devised a strategy for executing our plan with thorough Preparation.

In the final 3 steps, we finally begin to launch into action and see the fruits of our labour take shape…

5) Preview – This part of the process is the equivalent to a pilot carrying out the final checks in the cockpit before take off.

He knows that his purpose is to get the plane to a specific destination and he will have a flight plan to get him where he’s going.  Both he and the plane are prepared for the journey but no matter how experienced the pilot, he will still go through a series of pre-determined checks before he moves off the runway.

For the purpose of Disciplined Activity, Previewing involves routine checks to remind yourself of your Purpose and Plans and make sure your are still on track to achieve them.

The format for these checks can be as simple as a quick 2 minute daily preview of your Personal Mission Statement and the key tasks for the day. This ensures that your scheduled activities are on track to progress your plans and create forward steps in the direction of the goals that you have pre-determined for yourself.  Your Preview gives you the opportunity before you launch off into the day, to make sure that you are continuting to head along the right path.

6) Play – This is where the rubber meets the road!   You are off, going about your tasks and activities, embracing and responding to all that the day has to offer.

There is a lot to be gained from viewing the challenge of Life as a Game.  To some extent life is a game. There are some fundamental rules, there are players and the challenge is to win before it’s ‘Game Over’.

The difference is that we get to define what ‘winning’ is for us and by adopting an attitude of playfulness towards life, we can be sure of attracting more fun, enjoyment and even more passion into it and the discipline required to make it all happen will therefore come so much more naturally and with much greater ease.

By creating for yourself the choice to deal with your tasks, activities, situations, challenges and life in general with the same perspective that you would if it were a game, you take so much pressure off yourself and actually increase your chances of finishing the day feeling completely satisfied.  (A separate post on the Paradigm of Play can be found here).

Carrot Cake - Yum!

7) Present – When you have had the discipline to Play according to your Purpose-filled, Passionately Prepared and Previewed Plans, to make it all worthwhile it is important to build in a little reward each day to say well done to yourself for living on purpose.

Even if you have just achieved the majority of the things that you set out to do, you deserve a Present – just a little something that you would consider a treat.

The incremental, cummulative benefit of these little treats on your overall sense of well being is what makes disciplined activity both desirable and achievable.   It is your reward for living on purpose and it is what will keep you happily on your own disciplined track, coming back for more of the same, each and every day.

For a summary reminder of how each step of the 7 P’s can help you achieve daily disciplined activity to stay on your self chosen path towards the life experience of your choosing, click 7 P’s download

Author’s note: Obviously you cannot treat yourself to Carrot Cake every day!  Sometimes, an early night, and just saying “I am done for the day” is treat enough!

Next Post: Reality in the Movies

The Paradigm of Play – How to bring a different Perspective to your Daily Activities

In my book pitch for Your Life Rules, I spoke about introducing strategies for bringing ease into the process of discipline.

One of the core strategies for this process is The Paradigm of Play which is a term I use to describe how to view life, particularly in the face of it’s many challenges.

A paradigm is simply a frame of reference which dictates how you see any given situation.  A simplified example of the effect of a paradigm lies in the answer to the classic question – ‘Is this glass half full or half empty?’

You will answer this question dependent on your own personal frame of reference which would include whether or not you had first seen the glass full or empty, whether or not you are thirsty, and what type of attitude you have to life in general – are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Our paradigms in any given situation can be, and usually are, largely affected by the unconscious effect of things like our upbringing, culture, personal life experiences, and the beliefs that we have come to accept as being true…like the earth being flat…or round as the current paradigm would suggest.

But we can, if we so choose, consciously select how to view and respond to a situation, regardless of these influences – we can choose our Paradigm.

So what is the Paradigm of Play?  I think it is best illustrated by a series of books that I was VERY into between the ages of 9-11ish – the Choose Your Own Adventure series in which you as the reader got to determine the outcome of the story by making choices as they were presented to you throughout the book.  Each choice would result in you being sent to a different page further along in the book and your decisions would ultimately determine the outcome of the story.  It was so fun!

In real life sometimes the fun gets sucked out of our experience because of the pressures of stress, personal expectation, and the expectation of others.  However this is almost always because of our own perception of the situations, how we think, consciously or subconsciously, we should feel.

The Paradigm of Play says: View Life as a game.  Take the pressure off yourself and allow yourself to view your situation objectively.  If the situation were to crop up in a computer game, and you had the same resources available to you as you do in reality, what choice would you make?

Yes it’s real life, and yes sometimes the situations are serious, painful and occasionally pivotal, but choosing the Paradigm of Play can bring a whole new dimension to your work, daily tasks and activities.  Playfulness suggests fun, enjoyment and happiness and wouldn’t we all want a bit more of those as part of our life experience?

When built upon a foundation of Passion, Purpose and Priorities the Paradigm of Play forms a central part of the Your Life Rules 7 P’s for disciplined activity (along with Planning, Preparation and Presents) which we will be covering in subsequent posts.

Until then, happy playing!

Next Post: The 7 P’s of Disciplined Activity – Part 1

Re-programming Your Mind – A Bum deal in Reality

As anyone who has ever broken or seriously injured a limb will tell you, one of the longstanding issues which remains after the major rehab is over, is re balancing the dominance that the non-injured limb has developed as a result of weeks or months of over compensating during the period of injury.

Mostly this over dominance is OK and even unnoticeable in every day life but if you are going to push your body to limits with physical training and competitive performance, working on re balancing everything is essential as failure to do so will result at best, in below par performances and at worst, in injury, as the already overloaded muscles and tendons are pushed beyond what they can physically bear.

Interestingly, this process of re-balancing is not just a matter of balancing out the strength and functionability ratios of the affected areas.

It must also involve re-progamming the MIND.

I am currently working with some very clever physiologists who are helping me to do just that by carrying out a series of exercises designed to teach my brain how we expect it to use my bum, hips and legs.  Through painstaking repetition of tiny and specific movements we are teaching my brain what messages to deliver to the muscles and tendons so that they work in a more balanced and efficient way when called on for running.  The desired result is improved performances on the track and reduced risk of injury when training.

What is fascinating though is the changes that are noticeable relatively quickly as the ‘brain training’ begins to take effect and the physical response in the muscles becomes evident doing everyday tasks such as walking, driving and sitting – it’s as if some dormant muscles in my bum have awakened to their new possibilities, and are now ready to contribute to delivering what was always their purpose – assisting with leg extension and stabilising the pelvis.

What is important in all of this though, is that the Mind CAN be reprogrammed with tangible results that create for you a new reality of your choosing.  My new reality here: a new active bum!

But if you think of the wider possibilities, what this means is that you can choose any outcome that you desire and then go about re programming your mind to deliver those results, remembering always that it is the journey towards your desired results that is most important.

It is the process of DECIDING  what you want to achieve (re balanced bum) and then finding out what ACTIONS  you need to take (consulting with experts) and then taking those actions, which puts you on the path towards re-programming your mind for a new reality.

What new possibilities can you awaken within yourself?  What new programs can you ‘upload’ to your mind.  The information to do whatever you want is more than likely already out there.  All you need to do is seek it out, Educate Your Attitude, and Take a Journey.

With a healthy dose of diligence and discipline, your mind will have been re-programmed before you know it, and your reality changed forever, even if that just means you have a new bum!

Until next time,

Karen x

p.s. Voting has now closed but you can still hear the audio for my book pitch – Your Life Rules! (Developing the Discipline of an Athlete to Create the Life of Your Choosing) in the Next Top Self-Help Author Competition

Next Post: The Paradigm of Play – How to bring a different Perspective to your Daily Activities

Rule 5 – Choose a Route and Take a Journey

5. Choose a Route and Take a Journey!

Because of the unstoppable march of time, if you are not making progress you are in effect moving backwards as the world marches forwards without you.  Learning new skills, spending some time on your own personal development and working on a progressive and worthy plan for your life, all form part of your own personalised journey through life creating the forward motion and momentum that will keep you from feeling stagnant and unfulfilled.

And that is why just being on the Journey can be more important than actually reaching the destination. You will surely have heard the old saying, “success is a journey not a destination”.
Victory can be found in the great sense of purpose, fulfillment and satisfaction that is achieved from making conscious decisions about what it is you want to do with your life, and then actually going about taking the steps you need to set you on the path towards those achievements.
You may be surprised to find that acting on those decisions on a daily basis and starting out on your self determined path, ultimately gives you a greater cumulative sense of achievement than the moment you realise you have reached your destination.
This is because the personal growth which you will tangibly experience as you take your own journey has a snowball effect touching positively on every other area of your life.
What this means is that you experience a daily dose of satisfaction that inherently makes your life more rewarding than if you are just allowing yourself to be buffeted along by the seas of circumstance.
Consciously choosing your own journey, your own path through life, and then actually walking that path is what a satisfying life is all about. It is being on that path, and taking that journey that makes you successful and when you finally do reach a destination, to remain satisfied you may find that you eventually need to choose another path and start another journey…

Happy journey folks, until next time x Rule 6  – Create Some Balance