Miley Cyrus and changing habits...

Now before you laugh at me no I’m not a Miley Cyrus fan but my kids are and for those old enough I can still remember her father Billy Ray Cyrus. Remember Achy Breaky Heart…oh the memories!

So Claudia (11) and Brendan (8) went to their first concert the other night and yes it was Miley Cyrus. Not sure if you remember your first concert, for me it was Mi-Sex at the Springvale town hall, as embarrassed as I am I think the next one was a little better, Madness at festival hall. 

In my day the parents waited out the front however not these days so Stephanie escorted Claudia and one of her friends. Can you remember how you felt? I could see the excitement and the fear in both of their eyes before they went. Excited because they were going to do something that seemed very adult and scared because they were not sure what to expect. Now they had a great time, overwhelmed, tired, excited, thrilled and very happy with themselves that they made it. I remember that excitement and fear as I walked into the Springvale town hall only to find myself and a friend of mine and 50 girls all screaming for the band. Not quite the Miley Cyrus experience with at least 20,000 plus screaming girls. So for them it must have been very overwhelming and some of the looks on there faces from the photos I saw confirmed that.

So what has Miley Cyrus got to do with changing habits well changing habits are a bit like going to your first concert. It takes courage to know what you want but it takes more courage when what you want is something that you have never experienced before. Changing habits can feel a little like this, especially those habitual patterns that have been with us for as long as we can remember. So how do we change something when faced with the fear of the unknown?

Well first things first, we have to identify those things that are no longer serving us. The fear of cold calling if you are in an industry where this is the way sales are made, speaking face to face with people you don’t know and putting yourself out there. Or it could be personal habits like putting yourself down or being judgmental, I am sure there are some you can think of.

Once you have identified that which is no longer serving you the next step is to know what the new habit is that you are going to replace the old habit with. When you create a habit void it is important that you fill it with something else, so choose a new more positive habit to replace it with. 

Now, looking at where you are and where you want to go, list all of your fears. Also answer the question; how do you know when it is time to do the old habit? It is in this moment when the old habit begins that we want to bring consciousness enough to halt the old behavior and replace it with the new behavior. Over time, as you practice, firstly noticing when the time is to do the old habit and then replacing it with a new habit, habits slowly change.

If you have any hesitation just go to the concert, walk in take your seat and hang on tight because apart from having ringing ears you’ll walk out with a great experience and a new outlook on life. The world never quite looks the same after your first concert.

So identify what you want to change. Know when it is time to engage the old habit and replace it with the new. Reaffirm the new behavior whenever you can and remember practice makes perfect but persistence makes permanent.

Have a great week…

Marcus

Under the pump...creating massive action!

There is nothing like putting yourself under pressure to get the job done. Keeping one eye firmly focussed on the end goal and the task at hand is a great way to get into massive action.

However sometimes I take massive action to a WHOLE new level as my team have experienced today and anyone who has tried to talk to me about anything other than the workshop tonight has found out.

Although I am stressed, short tempered and crazy focussed I am being super productive. Now I would not suggest this as a long term strategy however if you want to get some things done give yourself a dead line where others are effected by the outcome, like running the workshop tonight, and things get done. Get others to hold you accountable, if I don't get everything done there are going to be a whole lot of disappointed people showing up...

I'm not a good one for delegating, maybe I'm a control freak, not that I have ever thought of myself as one...and maybe that's the problem. But today I have had to let go and rely on others to help me to reach this dead line and wow how wonderful everyone has worked.

So are you a procrastinator? Do you put things off? If so follow me...

1.  Set a dead line;
2. Tell someone and get them to hold you accountable;
3. Leverage the resources around you;

and I bet you have a better success rate.

Sorry if this is a short one today but I have some massive actions to achieve so that my workshop is a great success.

Have a great week...get into massive action I dare you!

Marcus

Finding your 'Inner Guru', it might just change your life…

I have spent the last few days, apart from trying to have a long weekend, downloading the video from my last Extraordinary Practice workshop that helps practitioners to Double their Clients and their Income in 90 Days. One of the main themes of this amazing, if I do say so myself, workshop program is the concept of inner guru. A lot of people screw up their face when I talk about the inner guru but if you can get yourself past the word ‘guru’ which, I use on purpose because it does cause many to rile up, then you might get to understand where I am coming from.

It might seem that most people move through life never looking for or finding their inner guru. Living lives that are not fully expressed or where full potential is not realized for without engaging with the inner guru it is not possible to reach or live your full potential.

Often we are told time and time again that it is not possible to find let alone connect and engage with the inner guru. The education system, our parents, our society all of which is not designed to help us to enter into this pilgrimage to find the inner guru. Some are lucky enough to fall into or over the inner guru. I remember a sister of an ex girlfriend of mine who when I knew her was only 10 years of age. Ever since the family could remember she said she wanted to be a Vet. She continually talked about it, dreamt about it and embedded this desire. In some respects she had already found her inner guru. I am pleased to say that now in her late twenties she is a qualified Vet living her inner guru. Unfortunately most of us are not as lucky.

For me I think I found my inner guru in my early twenties, however due to what i thought others expected of me I did not truly connect with it. it wasn't until I came down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that I began to search, connect with and own my inner guru.

There are examples scattered all over the world that most can only envy. Every young singer who has been discovered on YouTube, just for living their inner guru. Every young adult who decided to build an Internet program to stay connect with their university friends, or every young entrepreneur who started a record label just because they had a passion. We look on with awe to these successful, seemingly enigmas of our society. But they are not different to us for they are just like all of us with one little difference, they had the good fortune, courage and luck to find and engage with their inner guru.

I have noticed, during my time as a coach and healer, that when people connect with and live this inner guru-ness magic happens. All manner of manifestation appears that helps them to become successful, abundant and often famous. I have also noticed that people want to be associated with those that are living their inner guru. They become magnetic, or gravitational for those that have been to my workshops, and attract all manner of good fortune.

So what is your inner guru asking you to do? Do you have the courage to go looking and engage with this inner guru? Some might call this destiny or passion or what you are meant to be doing, either way it is not only important for you but also for our society as a whole. If we were all living this inner guru we would all be fulfilled and in doing so be content with our lives. This would lead to greater health, wealth and prosperity, less depression, anger and anguish.

So this topic is important…no imperative!

It is time to entertain this idea so please don’t waste another moment…Age, colour, race any excuse is no barrier.

A client of mine sent me this video of a speech given by Sir Ken Robinson who echo’s this sentiment better they I can. His focus is around education and how this kills 'The Element' as he calls it. It is a very entertaining and funny talk, take a look...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJAL21IE9fY

So I hope you enjoy it and I hope you will think about what it might mean to find your inner guru…

Have a great week…May the inner guru be with you!

Regards Marcus

Belief and the art of seduction

Another Monday and can you believe that we are in the middle of the year already. Not sure where May went, I must have slept through it, how was it?

So I just finished my amazing Double Your Clients in 90 Days workshop yesterday and I always enjoy seeing the positive effect it has on participants. One of the things we spoke about yesterday was belief. In particular the importance of believing in the self so that you can have the confidence to go out and do what it is that you want to do. 

Now sometimes belief is not enough as one participant shared with me. He had a strong belief that he was good enough and that he was worthy yet at the same time there was a deeper knowing that was blocking him from living the consciousness that he had. How is it possible that at the conscious level we can believe in something yet at another deeper sub consciousness level we can be seduced into not believing it and how does the sub consciousness win?

Belief and the art of seduction is one tool that advertisers, slick sales people and charlatans have used forever. They constantly take advantage of the seducing inner mind, the sub consciousness and the wounded inner child that tells us that we are not worthy. Although our conscious mind wants to believe that we are good, confident and worthy it is seduced by the sub conscious mind whose wounding sometimes runs deep. 

One of the things that we as human beings all have in common are issues around worth. The lack of worth is the seducer of belief and will do anything to sabotage our success.

So how do you know that you are worthy to have all the things that you want and desire?

When my daughter Lucy was born, some two and a half years ago, I realized that we are all born with an abundance of self worth so what happens? Maybe it is beaten out of us, maybe we are taught not to listen to it, maybe we just forget, either way there are moments in our life when we are seduced into believing we are not worthy even when our conscious mind knows that we are. 

So what is the antidote? 

Sometimes it helps to compile a list of all the ways that you know your worth, from both the outside world and also the inner world. There is a wellspring of worth that we all have within us, our job is to reconnect with it, know that we are intrinsically worthy and go live the grandest version of ourselves.

Sometimes however will power, positive affirmations and the anger and frustration of being sick and tired of being seduced is not enough. Sometimes we have to dig deep and to uncover the cause of the seduction. What are the insights that we can uncover to help our conscious selves deal with the cause or root of the seducer? Sometimes we can find this alone other times we need help to find the breakthrough.

In the absence of assistance we need to connect with our wellspring of worth that resides within. So go out and compile your list of ways that you know you are worthy. List all those external successes in your life, get testimonials from friends and family and others you associated with but more importantly go within and discover the worth that resides within. When we search outside of ourselves for worth we are at the whim of situation and the seducer. Depending on the time of day, the way the wind is blowing we may feel worthy or not. 

The most important form of worth comes from within, from the deep knowing that you were born with. This you will find in those quiet moments of peace, walking along a country road, on a beech or in the snow. Looking out over the beauty of the world or listening to the laughter of children. In all these little moments you will find the wellspring of worth that you were born with. So list where it is that you connect to this wellspring and when the seducer comes calling go to these places.

Remember it is not what happens to us but how we choose to interpret the story of what happened that matters most. Choose to know that in every given moment you are just doing the best job you can, making the best decisions based on the information and knowledge at hand. Don’t allow yourself to be seduced by the hindsight monster that will try to convince you that you are not worthy because you ‘should’ have done it better, differently or not at all. Begin to see the seducers in your life and choose to listen not to their incessant banter that would have you feel less than. It is not possible for you to be less than as we are all amazing beings, just for being born. If you take a close look at the amazingness of conception, birth and life you will agree with me. Focus on the small, amazing things in life and you will be bought back to the amazingness of who your truly are and the intrinsic worth that we all have deep within.

This week choose not to play with the seducer, don't allow it to haunt you and affect your life and don't listen to it when it try's to tell you that you are not worth it. YOU are WORTHY just for being!

Have a great week, Marcus