Changing a belief in an instant

Here's a power tool that's as simple, quick an' easy to use as any AND there's none more powerful. Do this often enough and you will change your life for the better forever.

This is way too simple and therefore easy to reject or disparage. Don't. Please. 

 

1. Recognize there's a negative thought/belief present.
2. SMILE (and keep smiling... keep smiling... KEEP smiling...).
3. Release the negative and Replace it with a positive.

It is nigh on impossible to keep negative thoughts, images and feelings in place while your smiling. A bit of a battle may ensue, so you may need some courage and persistence to keep smiling through the fearful fray as the bad mind guys and gals fight for their life. Do it anyway.

For extra credit: Keep smiling for two full minutes, and as you do, "imagineer" all sorts of positive experiences, images, thoughts, feelings, memories.

This one is also fun and you will know when you've won.

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

For MLMer & Network Marketers ONLY

Okay, maybe not "only," but certainly... mostly.

For more than 20 years, I've been a writer, teacher, author, speaker & mentor-coach focused primarily on the direct sales and network marketing professions. And although that's NOT ending (and there's lots more to say about that, but for now...) another direction is emerging for me. Actually, it's emerged. NOT fully formed, but it's well-beyond the chrysalis stage. And actually (again) this is a going back to what I originally got involved with this profession to pursue...

My love for "Transformation"— in more words, my involvement and commitment to my own and other people's "Personal, Professional & Organizational Growth & Development."

As said, lots more to say about that, here's what's important to tell you now...

My ANNOUNCEMENT is that I'm slowly, but very surely, putting all my direct sales, mlm, network marketing eggs in one basket: TheGreatestNetworker.org. That link goes directly to the new Web site. Here's a screen shot of what it's looking like as of now.

 

I've shut down all my other network marketing Web sites— The MasterMind Sessions, GreatestNetworker.com, Coaching For MLM Leaders. I doubt I'll be doing anything with TGNWeekends as I did last summer. I WILL continue Mentor-Coaching network marketers, but my focus will be on the fundamental "Personal, Professional & Organizational Growth & Development" bits. I'll leave the "nuts & bolts" of business-building to other more famous and competent others (as, in truth, I have for years). And that's another one of those "more to say about that" deals.

So for now, PLEASE go and check out the beginnings of TheGreatestNetworker.org. Get On My List, check out all the material in the About MLM and Free Stuff sections of the Web site. Membership is NOT open yet. I'll let you know when it is.

And of course, please, let me know what you like best about it, or give me any questions or comments you have.

______________________________

Thanks.

I appreciate you!

 

 

 

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

Morty Leftkoe (In Action) Changing One Of Joe Vitale's Beliefs

I'm working on a new project. It's called "Conversations." I don't want to play show & tell with it yet, I want to get some confirmations from a few other Master Teachers first. Not meaning to tease and... it's interviews (and more) with extraordinary men and women who are working (as in Life's Work) in the area of Transformation— the personal, professional & organizational growth & development that changes people's lives for the better, forever.

I'll be highlighting, extracting, podcasting... excerpts and supplementary material from and around my Conversations with you here in TheFoggBlogg. That's a bit of the "backstory" on why I've focused on Morty Lefkoe and RobertScheinfeld in the last week or so. They're two of the Masters who have confirmed their upcoming Conversations with me. Richard Brooke is another. And of course, I working on more.

To wit, today, I want you to see the first two (of five) YouTube videos that Joe Vitale did with Morty Lefkoe in which Joe (bless his heart, no kidding) goes thorough one of Morty's "Belief Changing" processes. Morty help's Joe un-conceal his belief that "I'm not important" underlies some of his motivation & actions. It's one I know... well. (Which is another reason I appreciated Morty's demonstration & Joe's openness so much.)

I trust you'll be as intrigued as I am by Morty's Method— and I know you'll see what makes his work work so well. At the end, I'll give you the links to the remaining videos on Joe's YouTube channel.

Enjoy— and learn, too, please.

1. Watch a Belief Disappear with Morty Lefkoe (1 of 5)

2. Watch a Belief Disappear with Morty Lefkoe (2 of 5)

Videos 3, 4 & 5 are here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InrpHLL5pnc #3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGrHAybuLqM #4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbqmoxCnjs8 #5

Please let me know what you learn from Joe & Morty that you appreciate most.

______________________________

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

     

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

The Human Game— More From Robert Scheinfeld

I recently introduced (or reminded) you about the work of Robert Scheinfeld in the post Busting Loose— And Introduction To the Work of Robert Scheinfeld, which featured three of Robert's videos. If you haven't viewed yet, please do. Fascinating. And, here's more about...

The Human Game
Who you really are is a magnificent being who lives in a constant state of limitless power, abundance, wisdom and Joyfulness. Your natural state is also one of having an unlimited desire and ability to express creatively. A popular phrase for describing this is "We are Spiritual Beings having a physical experience." That experience is "The Human Game."
By Robert Scheinfeld

______________________________

You are an infinite spiritual being and you came to this Earth plane to play the Human Game!

As we begin our Journey To The Infinite together, it's very supportive for you to briefly review the premise and process of this work. As you know, this work is specifically designed to challenge you to totally expand your view of who you are, what your life is really about, and where you're headed. The premise is simple.
 
Who you really are is a magnificent being who lives in a constant state of limitless power, abundance, wisdom and Joyfulness. Your natural state is also one of having an unlimited desire and ability to express creatively. A popular phrase for describing this is "We are Spiritual Beings having a physical experience." I call who you really are your "Expanded Self."
 
Coming from the expanded and infinite state I just described, you decided you wanted to play a game— for the sheer fun, pleasure and challenge of playing. That game is called "The Human Game" and it's a game that's played entirely in consciousness— in "the mind" if you will. I realize you've been taught the human experience is a lot more "serious" than a game, but if we're going to work together, you must understand my perspective.
 
Like any other game, The Human Game has its own set of unique rules, regulations and structure, which I'll discuss in a moment. I'm fond of comparing the mechanics of creating and playing The Human Game in consciousness to the making of a movie and often call the human experience a "Total Immersion Movie Experience."
 
I'm a big fan of the TV and movie series called Star Trek. In that show, there's a concept called "The Prime Directive." The Prime Directive is a core principle that guides the actions of the crew of the Starship Enterprise as they explore space. The Human Game has a Prime Directive too. It's to fully explore the experience of limitation and restriction— to explore what happens when you limit the unlimited power, infinite ability to express creatively, infinite wisdom and abundance that's your natural state.
 
As a result, The Human Game is designed to be jam packed with all sorts of limiting and restrictive ideas and experiences. Concepts like death, poverty, loss, fear, pain, shame, struggle and sorrow have been created in The Human Game like hurdles on a track.

The game, then, is for you to play The Human Game, experience severe limitation in the creation of consciousness called "3 Dimensional Reality," then eventually jump over the hurdles and back into full awareness of the infinite nature of who you really are.

To play a game, you must have "players." The Human Game works the same way. Players take the shape of Parents, siblings, relatives, neighbors, teachers, friends, enemies, associates, etc. The roles other Players play in your Game are very similar to the roles actors and actresses play in the making of a movie. That is, they say what you ask them to say and do what you ask them to do to support you perfectly in playing your Human Game exactly the way you want to play it. There's an unconditional commitment from each Player to support every other Player in playing The Human Game.
 
Since who you really are is an Infinite Being, in order to play The Human Game, you must use all your power, creativity and consciousness to wipe out every last trace of memory of who you really are, how much power you have, how much wisdom you possess, and your natural state of infinite abundance. As a result, to play The Human Game, you must create the Illusion of splitting yourself into two parts:

1. Your Expanded Self— which is who you really are with all your power, wisdom and abundance, who manages all aspects of The Game from behind the scenes

2. The Player— who totally immerses himself or herself within the illusion of The Human Game and doesn't remember who he or she really is or what he or she is capable of.

The Player is the part of you who's reading my words right now. It's who you've always thought yourself to be.

Words get tricky here, but it's important to understand that while The Player and Expanded Self feel and appear separate, they're actually one and the same Infinite Being that's united at a very deep and profound level. The apparent separation is all an Illusion created by what you might call "sleight of hand" in consciousness.
 
As part of "the forgetting process" that's required to play The Human Game, your Expanded Self chooses the form of a helpless, tiny infant who's totally dependent on conditions outside its control to begin The Human Game. Once you (The Player) are born (and in some cases while you’re still in the womb prior to being born), your Expanded Self starts creating experiences that begin the process of forgetting, limiting and restricting you. In the popular success and self-help literature, this process is called "programming" or "conditioning."

From the moment you're born, you actually begin "hiding" your tremendous power, wisdom and abundance from yourself, and convincing yourself you're actually the complete opposite of who you really are.

You also convince yourself those hiding places are so painful, dangerous, scary and deadly that they must be avoided at all costs. The process of forgetting, limiting and restricting yourself is what I call "Phase 1" of The Human Game...

______________________________

There more >>. Click this link to download the entire article as a PDF file. The Human Game.

And, there's much more from Robert at his website http://RobertScheinfeld.com. Make sure to get his newsletter and do not miss the videos on his "Resources" page. And right now (I can't believe this!) you can get Robert's book Busting Loose From The Business Game for only $4.08 saving you $20.87 (84%). Hardcover no less. I'm reading it now.

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

     

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

Are You a Parent? Know Any? Here...

More from Morty Lefkoe. I cannot hep it. This man is a gift.

His "work" on BELIEF is some of the best I've ever encountered. I consider him a rare "real deal" in the field, because... Morty's method WORKS (fast, too) and the guy is his own "lab rat." (Something I admire greatly: He walking his talking.) Refreshing. Here's more, first about Morty, then his latest...

Morty Lefkoe is president and founder of The Lefkoe Institute. He is the creator of a series of psychological processes (The Lefkoe Method) that result in profound personal and organizational change, quickly and permanently. He has written a book about the Lefkoe Belief Process (LBP), Re-create Your Life: Transforming Yourself and Your World. You can learn more about Morty and his work here: http://MortyLefkoe.com.

Here's a recent blog post "think-piece" that once again got my attention. Trust it will yours as well. If you've ever gotten upset <smile> this one's for you.

What is My Job As A Parent?

“How many times do I have to tell you?”
 
“What am I ever going to do with you?”
 
“What’s wrong with you?”
 
“Don’t you ever listen?”

Imagine yourself to be a young child listening to your parents repeatedly ask you questions like these. If you stop for a few moments, listen to these words inside your head, and experience what it feels like, you will have a clear picture of what far too many children feel every day.

But what’s even worse than the momentary hurt you probably felt as a child are the beliefs that you probably formed if your parents used words like this day after day, year after year.

You’d probably conclude: There’s something wrong with me.  I’m not good enough.  I’m not capable. Mistakes and failure are bad.

As parents we would be horrified to discover that many of our conversations with our children result in these beliefs.  Nonetheless, speaking to them this way has a significant negative impact on them, not the least of which is a negative sense of themselves due to low self-esteem.
 
For over 25 years we have been working with people who’ve had a wide variety of dysfunctional behavioral or emotional patterns.  Some were relatively minor, such as the inability to express feelings, procrastination, and obsessing about what others thought about them. Some were serious, such as eating disorders, chronic depression or anxiety, and phobias.  We’ve helped these people with the Lefkoe Belief Process® (LBP), a technique I developed that allows people to quickly and permanently eliminate the specific beliefs that are responsible for any undesirable behavior or feeling.  When the beliefs disappear, the patterns do also.  (To use the LBP to eliminate one negative self-esteem belief without charge, go to: http://www.recreateyourlife.com.)
 
In session after session, hour after hour, we have heard thousands of clients describe the experiences they had with their parents, most of whom loved their children and meant well, that led the clients to form the beliefs they were trying to eliminate: “My mom and dad always did …, they never did …, they always said …, they never said ….”
 
In the parenting e-Book my wife Shelly and I co-wrote, Guide to Effective Parenting, we explain in detail how what parents do and don’t do, say and don’t say, provide their children with the experiences that the children interpret into beliefs.  Those beliefs, in turn, then determine their behavior and emotions and, ultimately, their lives—for better or for worse.  (For information about this e-Book, go to http://www.lefkoeinstitute.com/parenting-ebook.html.)
 

Shelly and I have read numerous books on parenting and have taught countless parenting workshops.  Nonetheless, we still found ourselves doing some things that were interpreted negatively by our two girls when they were younger.  But we finally got in the habit of asking ourselves the question after we interacted with our children:

What has my child just concluded?  When we think the answer is “probably something negative,” we go back to our children to apologize and reopen the discussion.

As an example, one day when our daughter Brittany was about five years old (she’s now 21!) Shelly went into the bathroom before bedtime to brush Brittany’s teeth. Our daughter flatly refused, being the independent young lady that she is.  After all of Shelly’s parenting skills and tools failed, she found herself physically overpowering our daughter with one arm around her neck and one hand with the toothbrush in her mouth. After a few moments she regained her sanity and realized what she was doing. She stopped immediately and apologized to Brittany.
 
Shelly realized that, as important as brushing Brittany’s teeth was, far more important was what our daughter would conclude about herself and life out of that interaction if repeated consistently. A couple of possibilities include: I’m powerless or What I want doesn’t matter. (Rarely do just a few experiences lead to negative beliefs. A number of experiences usually are required before we reach specific negative conclusions about ourselves and life.)
 
How can we get our children to do what needs to be done (teeth that don’t get brushed do get cavities) without them forming negative beliefs about themselves? Knowing how to interact with our children in a way that facilitates a healthy self-esteem and a positive sense of life is not self-evident. There are many books and courses that provide excellent skills and tools. One of the best techniques is to ask your children what to do and give them a choice. When Brittany didn’t want to go to the bathroom to brush her teeth, we learned to ask her how she’d like to go—with Shelly leading a parade and her following (you should have seen Shelly as a drum major!), with her in my arms or on my back, or did she want to meet me there in five minutes?

Most of us think we are successful parents if we get our children to behave properly, to learn what we think they need to learn, and to be happy. The question we suggest you ask yourself is: At what cost?

If you succeed in achieving what you want for your children, but they form negative self-esteem beliefs, such as, I’m not good enough or I’m not worthwhile, or negative beliefs about life, such as, Life’s difficult or I’ll never get what I want, was your behavior really “successful”?  In other words, are the benefits you achieved short term with your children worth the long-term cost?

I am not saying that our children’s behavior on a daily basis, the information they acquire from us, and their happiness are not important. Of course they are.

What I’m saying is that the single factor that has the greatest impact on whether or not your children achieve true happiness and satisfaction in life is a healthy self-esteem and a positive sense of life.

Nothing we do, learn or feel when we’re young will have as much influence on our adult life as the fundamental beliefs we form and take into adulthood.

To make this real, let’s assume that your children have one of the two following sets of beliefs: I’m not good enough; There’s something wrong with me; I’m not deserving; I’m not loveable; I don’t matter— or: I am good enough; I’m worthwhile just because I am, not for any reason; I’m loveable; I matter.
 
Which set of beliefs would most likely lead to anxiety and depression? To substance abuse? To teenage pregnancy? To eating disorders? To satisfying relationships? To a productive career? To a truly satisfying life?

Given the critical importance of beliefs, what should be the primary role of parents? 

Influencing behavior? Teaching information? Making their children happy?— Or assisting their children to form positive beliefs about themselves and life?

If you chose the latter, the best way I know of to insure that you are getting your job as a parent done is constantly to ask yourself the question:

What are my children likely to conclude about themselves and life as a result of this interaction we just had?

If it is a negative decision, go back, apologize and clean it up. 

If it is a positive decision, congratulations! You got your job done.

______________________________

If you haven’t yet eliminated at least one of your limiting self-esteem beliefs using the Lefkoe Belief Process, go to http://www.recreateyourlife.com/free where you can eliminate one limiting belief free.

______________________________

Thanks.

I appreciate you!

 

 

 

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

Experience vs. Memory. Remarkable & Fascinating...

We are of (at least) two minds: An Experiencing Self and a Remembering Self. In this recent TED Talk, Daniel Kahneman explores & exposes what makes the two of "us" so different. He asks: "What makes us give so much importance to our Remembering Self?" What's the role of each Self in making choices & decisions? "We don't," Kahneman asserts, "make choices based on experiences. We make choices based on our memories of our experiences." We even think about the future as anticipated memories, rather than experiences...

There's more. Lots. As said, "Fascinating." Here:

Using examples from vacations to colonoscopies, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics Daniel Kahneman reveals how our "experiencing selves" and our "remembering selves" perceive happiness differently. This new insight has profound implications for economics, public policy— and our own self-awareness.

Daniel Kahneman: The riddle of experience vs. memory

Daniel Kahneman is an eminence grise ["a person who exercises power or influence in certain areas without holding an official position" just in case, like me, you didn't know] for the Freakonomics crowd. In the mid-1970s, with his collaborator Amos Tversky, he was among the first academics to pick apart exactly why we make "wrong" decisions. In their 1979 paper on prospect theory, Kahneman and Tversky examined a simple problem of economic risk. And rather than stating the optimal, rational answer, as an economist of the time might have, they quantified how most real people, consistently, make a less-rational choice. Their work treated economics not as a perfect or self-correcting machine, but as a system prey to quirks of human perception. The field of behavioral economics was born.

Kahneman was awarded the Nobel Memorial prize in 2002 for his work with Tversky, who died before the award was bestowed. In a lovely passage in his Nobel biography, Kahneman looks back on his deep collaboration with Tversky and calls for a new form of academic cooperation, marked not by turf battles but by "adversarial collaboration," a good-faith effort by unlike minds to conduct joint research, critiquing each other in the service of an ideal of truth to which both can contribute.

"Amos and I shared the wonder of together owning a goose that could lay golden eggs— a joint mind that was better than our separate minds." —Daniel Kahneman

______________________________

Trust you enjoyed and learned something. Let me know.

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

     

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

Up for starting your week with a tear or two of Joy and a skosh more love for people? Good on ya' Mate(s). here:

"On Friday mornings 52Best has been emailing a story to 25,000 Readers in 92 countries for ten years. By sharing stories of compassion, understanding, and creativity, it is our hope that we may be helping in a small way to create a kinder, better world in which to live."  Sandy Pofahl, Editor 

______________________________

Stevie, My Down Syndrome Busboy 
I tried not to be biased in hiring a handicapped person, but his placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Down syndrome.
 
I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade. The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me.
 
The mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truckstop germ;" the pairs of white shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truckstop waitress wants to be flirted with were who concerned me. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.
 
I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truckstop mascot.  After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him.
 
He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table.
 
Our only problem was convincing him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus the dishes and glasses onto the cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag.
 
If he thought a customer were watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration.  He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met.
 
Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truckstop. Their social worker, which stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks.  Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home.
 
That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart.
 
His social worker said that people with Down syndrome often had heart problems at an early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.
 
A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery and doing fine. Frannie, my head waitress, let out a war hoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of the 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table. Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and showed Belle Ringer a withering look He grinned.
 
"OK, Frannie, what was that all about?" he asked.
 
"We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay."
 
"I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?" Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed.
 
"Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be ok," she said, "but I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is."
 
Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables. Since I hadn't had time to round up a busboy to replace Stevie and really didn't want to replace him, the girls were bussing their own tables that day until we decided what to do. After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand a funny look on her face.
 
"What's up?" I asked.
 
"I didn't get that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back to clean it off," she said, "This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup."
 
She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 fell onto my desk when opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie."
 
"Pony Pete asked me what that was all about," she said, "so I told him about Stevie and his mom and everything, and Pete looked at Tony and Tony looked at Pete, and they ended up giving me this."
 
She handed me another paper napkin that had "Something For Stevie" scrawled on its outside. Two $50 bills were tucked within its folds. Frannie looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head and said simply "truckers."
 
That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work.  His placement worker said he's been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, and it didn't matter at all that it was a holiday.
 
He called 10 times in the past week, making sure we knew he was coming, fearful that we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy. I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back. Stevie was thinner and paler, but couldn't stop grinning as he pushed through the doors and headed for the back room where his apron and busting cart were waiting.
 
"Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast," I said. I took him and his mother by their arms.  "Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me."
 
I led them toward a large corner booth at the rear of the room I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning truckers empty and join the procession. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins.
 
"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said. I tried to sound stern. Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside.
 
As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed or scrawled on it. I turned to his mother.
 
"There's more than $10,000 cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. Happy Thanksgiving."
 
Well, it got real noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well.  But you know what's funny?
 
While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table.
 
Best worker I ever had.

______________________________

The Author is Dan Anderson with the story originally being published in the November 1998 addition of "RPM Magazine for Truckers" and again in the 2000 book Stories for a Faithful Heart.

Please go to: http://www.52best.com/subscribe.asp and subscribe to the Friday Story.

______________________________

Thanks.

I appreciate you!

 

 

 

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

Backstory: My wife Katyusha & I attended what I think was the very first "Busting Loose From the Money Game" weekend Robert Scheinfeld presented. It was here in Charlottesville, Virginia where both the Scheinfelds & Foggs live (still). My daughter Ele went to school with Bob's son Adin for a while. Katyusha was pregnant with Anais when we "did" the workshop.

I have always been intrigued with Robert's work. I KNOW (caps well-intended) he's on to something big, remarkable & life-changing. And now that I'm digging deeper in the whole idea that Life On Earth is a Game— Bob calls it "The Human Game"— and we are "Infinitely Powerful Spiritual Beings connected directly to GOD, the Source f All That Is" playing this Game... better to let Robert explain & expound on his point of view.

Here are three videos, the first three, to give you an idea of Robert's work. If you're intrigued, go to his "Busting Loose" Channel on YouTube for lots more. 

1. Why Personal Growth, Self Help and Self Improvement Techniques Fail So Much

2. Why The Law Of Attraction Is A Myth That Fails So Much

3. Why Goal Setting And Goal Setting Techniques Fail So Much

There's much more from Robert at his website http://RobertScheinfeld.com. Make sure to get his newsletter and do not miss the videos on his "Resources" page. And right now (I can't believe this!) you can get Robert's book Busting Loose From The Business Game for only $4.08 saving you $20.87 (84%). Hardcover no less. I'm reading it now.

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

     

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

That's a request. You have three possible responses: Yes. No. Or, renegotiate. I recommend "Yes."

Use this link: http://richardbrooke.com/interview/

______________________________

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

     

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

WARNING: What follows requires thought, open and authentic, "Hmmmm, that's interesting (perhaps even exciting). I wonder what would happen if I...?" Like that. Don't waste your time if you're not up for that and more.

__________________________

One interesting way of looking at your life (paradigm) is that's it's a game— The Game of Life On Earth, or as Bob Scheinfeld calls it, "The Human Game."

Just like all the other games you've ever played life has its field of play (or game board), and there are rules, time frames... other players, teams & teammates... ways to keep score, equipment bats and balls and racquets (and rackets),  even uniforms (for some)... all of that. Think tennis & basketball & competitive sports as well as things like Monopoly, Candy Land & Texas Hold'em. Choose which ever illustration works best for you.

Think about your relationship to playing games: Are you all about winning or is "It's how you play the game" that's most important to you?

If you're a fan of the book The Greatest Networker in the World you might remember this passage from another (sadly out-of-print) book the Greatest Networker read out loud Coaching Kids To Play Baseball and Softball :

We make no secret of our feeling that the most important part of your job as coach is to make sure your squad has fun; the second most important part is to teach them all you can; the third, to make sure they develop as individuals and members of a team; and fourth, to win when you can.

The whole notion of viewing life as a game has REALLY gotten my attention lately. I mean, what if my life really WAS a game... a game I chose to play in order to (as the quote above states): Have fun... Learn the skills of the game... Develop myself, and my relationships & partnerships... And win, when I could?

What difference would that make in terms of the challenges & difficulties I'm facing? The success & failures I encounter? Or the extent I have fun and enjoy playing the game— the game that is my life now?

For me, this Life Is a Game idea is worth pursuing. To wit, what follows. It's all about which game I'm playing (and I do think I've not been playing the one I really came to play).

These ideas are excerpted and paraphrased from the remarkable book: Finite and Infinite Games - A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James P. Carse

______________________________

There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite.

A finite game is a game that has fixed rules and boundaries, that is played for the purpose of winning and thereby ending the game.

An infinite game has no fixed rules or boundaries. In an infinite game you play with the boundaries and the purpose is to continue the game.

Finite players are serious; infinite games are playful.

Finite players try to control the game, predict everything that will happen, and set the outcome in advance. They are serious and determined about getting that outcome. They try to fix the future based on the past.

Infinite players enjoy being surprised. Continuously running into something one didn't know will ensure that the game will go on. The meaning of the past changes depending on what happens in the future.

All games are inherently voluntary. There might be consequences of not playing, but there is always a choice required. Driving in the right side of the road, shaking people's hands, and paying taxes are games one has a choice about playing. There are certain rules and boundaries that appear to be externally defined, and you choose to follow them or not. If you stop following them you aren't playing the game any longer.

There is no rule that says you have to follow the rules.

All finite games have rules. If you follow the rules you are playing the game. If you don't follow the rules you aren't playing. If you move the pieces in different ways in chess, you are no longer playing chess.

Infinite players play with rules and boundaries. They include them as part of their playing. They aren't taking them serious, and they can never be trapped by them, because they use rules and boundaries to play with.

In a theatrical play the actor knows that she really isn't Ophelia. The audience knows that she really isn't Ophelia. But if she does a good job, Ophelia can express herself through the actor. The playing is most enjoyable when it is both clear that it is chosen play, that it is the actor doing it voluntarily, and at the same time it is so convincing, following the rules well enough that it seems real.

You can play finite games within an infinite game.
You can not play infinite games within a finite game.

You can do what you do seriously, because you must do it, because you must survive to the end, and you are afraid of dying and other consequences. Or, you can do everything you do playfully, always knowing you have a choice, having no need to survive the way you are, allowing every element of the play to transform you, taking pleasure in every surprise you meet. Those are the differences between finite and infinite players.
______________________________

So, where are you at with all that? Seeing anything differently? Which game have you been playing? Which game do you want to be playing?

Let me know what you think & feel & value most about this piece.

Thanks.
I appreciate you.

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

from Stories for a Faithful Heart— "Best worker I ever had."

Up for starting your week with a tear or two of Joy and a skosh more love for people? Good on ya' Mate(s). here:

"On Friday mornings 52Best has been emailing a story to 25,000 Readers in 92 countries for ten years. By sharing stories of compassion, understanding, and creativity, it is our hope that we may be helping in a small way to create a kinder, better world in which to live."  Sandy Pofahl, Editor 

______________________________

Stevie, My Down Syndrome Busboy 
I tried not to be biased in hiring a handicapped person, but his placement counselor assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee and wasn't sure I wanted one. I wasn't sure how my customers would react to Stevie. He was short, a little dumpy with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Down syndrome.
 
I wasn't worried about most of my trucker customers because truckers don't generally care who buses tables as long as the meatloaf platter is good and the pies are homemade. The four-wheeler drivers were the ones who concerned me.
 
The mouthy college kids traveling to school; the yuppie snobs who secretly polish their silverware with their napkins for fear of catching some dreaded "truckstop germ;" the pairs of white shirted business men on expense accounts who think every truckstop waitress wants to be flirted with were who concerned me. I knew those people would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.
 
I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his stubby little finger, and within a month my truck regulars had adopted him as their official truckstop mascot.  After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him.
 
He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a bread crumb or coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table.
 
Our only problem was convincing him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished. He would hover in the background, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, scanning the dining room until a table was empty. Then he would scurry to the empty table and carefully bus the dishes and glasses onto the cart and meticulously wipe the table up with a practiced flourish of his rag.
 
If he thought a customer were watching, his brow would pucker with added concentration.  He took pride in doing his job exactly right, and you had to love how hard he tried to please each and every person he met.
 
Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. They lived on their Social Security benefits in public housing two miles from the truckstop. Their social worker, which stopped to check on him every so often, admitted they had fallen between the cracks.  Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home.
 
That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo clinic in Rochester getting a new valve or something put in his heart.
 
His social worker said that people with Down syndrome often had heart problems at an early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.
 
A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery and doing fine. Frannie, my head waitress, let out a war hoop and did a little dance in the aisle when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at the sight of the 50-year-old grandmother of four doing a victory shimmy beside his table. Frannie blushed, smoothed her apron and showed Belle Ringer a withering look He grinned.
 
"OK, Frannie, what was that all about?" he asked.
 
"We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay."
 
"I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?" Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers sitting at his booth about Stevie's surgery, then sighed.
 
"Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be ok," she said, "but I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is."
 
Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables. Since I hadn't had time to round up a busboy to replace Stevie and really didn't want to replace him, the girls were bussing their own tables that day until we decided what to do. After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand a funny look on her face.
 
"What's up?" I asked.
 
"I didn't get that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting cleared off after they left, and Pony Pete and Tony Tipper were sitting there when I got back to clean it off," she said, "This was folded and tucked under a coffee cup."
 
She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 fell onto my desk when opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie."
 
"Pony Pete asked me what that was all about," she said, "so I told him about Stevie and his mom and everything, and Pete looked at Tony and Tony looked at Pete, and they ended up giving me this."
 
She handed me another paper napkin that had "Something For Stevie" scrawled on its outside. Two $50 bills were tucked within its folds. Frannie looked at me with wet, shiny eyes, shook her head and said simply "truckers."
 
That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work.  His placement worker said he's been counting the days until the doctor said he could work, and it didn't matter at all that it was a holiday.
 
He called 10 times in the past week, making sure we knew he was coming, fearful that we had forgotten him or that his job was in jeopardy. I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back. Stevie was thinner and paler, but couldn't stop grinning as he pushed through the doors and headed for the back room where his apron and busting cart were waiting.
 
"Hold up there, Stevie, not so fast," I said. I took him and his mother by their arms.  "Work can wait for a minute. To celebrate you coming back, breakfast for you and your mother is on me."
 
I led them toward a large corner booth at the rear of the room I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw booth after booth of grinning truckers empty and join the procession. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups, saucers and dinner plates, all sitting slightly crooked on dozens of folded paper napkins.
 
"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said. I tried to sound stern. Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside.
 
As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed or scrawled on it. I turned to his mother.
 
"There's more than $10,000 cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. Happy Thanksgiving."
 
Well, it got real noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well.  But you know what's funny?
 
While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table.
 
Best worker I ever had.

______________________________

The Author is Dan Anderson with the story originally being published in the November 1998 addition of "RPM Magazine for Truckers" and again in the 2000 book Stories for a Faithful Heart.

Please go to: http://www.52best.com/subscribe.asp and subscribe to the Friday Story.

______________________________

Thanks.

I appreciate you!

 

 

 

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

Busting Loose— And Introduction To the Work of Robert Scheinfeld

Backstory: My wife Katyusha & I attended what I think was the very first "Busting Loose From the Money Game" weekend Robert Scheinfeld presented. It was here in Charlottesville, Virginia where both the Scheinfelds & Foggs live (still). My daughter Ele went to school with Bob's son Adin for a while. Katyusha was pregnant with Anais when we "did" the workshop.

I have always been intrigued with Robert's work. I KNOW (caps well-intended) he's on to something big, remarkable & life-changing. And now that I'm digging deeper in the whole idea that Life On Earth is a Game— Bob calls it "The Human Game"— and we are "Infinitely Powerful Spiritual Beings connected directly to GOD, the Source f All That Is" playing this Game... better to let Robert explain & expound on his point of view.

Here are three videos, the first three, to give you an idea of Robert's work. If you're intrigued, go to his "Busting Loose" Channel on YouTube for lots more. 

1. Why Personal Growth, Self Help and Self Improvement Techniques Fail So Much

2. Why The Law Of Attraction Is A Myth That Fails So Much

3. Why Goal Setting And Goal Setting Techniques Fail So Much

There's much more from Robert at his website http://RobertScheinfeld.com. Make sure to get his newsletter and do not miss the videos on his "Resources" page. And right now (I can't believe this!) you can get Robert's book Busting Loose From The Business Game for only $4.08 saving you $20.87 (84%). Hardcover no less. I'm reading it now.

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

     

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

Watch This

That's a request. You have three possible responses: Yes. No. Or, renegotiate. I recommend "Yes."

Use this link: http://richardbrooke.com/interview/

______________________________

Thanks.
I appreciate you!

     

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others:

The Game of Life. Which One Are You Playing?

WARNING: What follows requires thought, open and authentic, "Hmmmm, that's interesting (perhaps even exciting). I wonder what would happen if I...?" Like that. Don't waste your time if you're not up for that and more.

__________________________

One interesting way of looking at your life (paradigm) is that's it's a game— The Game of Life On Earth, or as Bob Scheinfeld calls it, "The Human Game."

Just like all the other games you've ever played life has its field of play (or game board), and there are rules, time frames... other players, teams & teammates... ways to keep score, equipment bats and balls and racquets (and rackets),  even uniforms (for some)... all of that. Think tennis & basketball & competitive sports as well as things like Monopoly, Candy Land & Texas Hold'em. Choose which ever illustration works best for you.

Think about your relationship to playing games: Are you all about winning or is "It's how you play the game" that's most important to you?

If you're a fan of the book The Greatest Networker in the World you might remember this passage from another (sadly out-of-print) book the Greatest Networker read out loud Coaching Kids To Play Baseball and Softball :

We make no secret of our feeling that the most important part of your job as coach is to make sure your squad has fun; the second most important part is to teach them all you can; the third, to make sure they develop as individuals and members of a team; and fourth, to win when you can.

The whole notion of viewing life as a game has REALLY gotten my attention lately. I mean, what if my life really WAS a game... a game I chose to play in order to (as the quote above states): Have fun... Learn the skills of the game... Develop myself, and my relationships & partnerships... And win, when I could?

What difference would that make in terms of the challenges & difficulties I'm facing? The success & failures I encounter? Or the extent I have fun and enjoy playing the game— the game that is my life now?

For me, this Life Is a Game idea is worth pursuing. To wit, what follows. It's all about which game I'm playing (and I do think I've not been playing the one I really came to play).

These ideas are excerpted and paraphrased from the remarkable book: Finite and Infinite Games - A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James P. Carse

______________________________

There are at least two kinds of games: finite and infinite.

A finite game is a game that has fixed rules and boundaries, that is played for the purpose of winning and thereby ending the game.

An infinite game has no fixed rules or boundaries. In an infinite game you play with the boundaries and the purpose is to continue the game.

Finite players are serious; infinite games are playful.

Finite players try to control the game, predict everything that will happen, and set the outcome in advance. They are serious and determined about getting that outcome. They try to fix the future based on the past.

Infinite players enjoy being surprised. Continuously running into something one didn't know will ensure that the game will go on. The meaning of the past changes depending on what happens in the future.

All games are inherently voluntary. There might be consequences of not playing, but there is always a choice required. Driving in the right side of the road, shaking people's hands, and paying taxes are games one has a choice about playing. There are certain rules and boundaries that appear to be externally defined, and you choose to follow them or not. If you stop following them you aren't playing the game any longer.

There is no rule that says you have to follow the rules.

All finite games have rules. If you follow the rules you are playing the game. If you don't follow the rules you aren't playing. If you move the pieces in different ways in chess, you are no longer playing chess.

Infinite players play with rules and boundaries. They include them as part of their playing. They aren't taking them serious, and they can never be trapped by them, because they use rules and boundaries to play with.

In a theatrical play the actor knows that she really isn't Ophelia. The audience knows that she really isn't Ophelia. But if she does a good job, Ophelia can express herself through the actor. The playing is most enjoyable when it is both clear that it is chosen play, that it is the actor doing it voluntarily, and at the same time it is so convincing, following the rules well enough that it seems real.

You can play finite games within an infinite game.
You can not play infinite games within a finite game.

You can do what you do seriously, because you must do it, because you must survive to the end, and you are afraid of dying and other consequences. Or, you can do everything you do playfully, always knowing you have a choice, having no need to survive the way you are, allowing every element of the play to transform you, taking pleasure in every surprise you meet. Those are the differences between finite and infinite players.
______________________________

So, where are you at with all that? Seeing anything differently? Which game have you been playing? Which game do you want to be playing?

Let me know what you think & feel & value most about this piece.

Thanks.
I appreciate you.

Please click to bookmark and share this post with others: