The Grasshopper stopped me in my tracks when he delivered this piece of wisdom:

“The hardest person to help is someone who doesn’t think they’re in trouble.”

Most parents can tell when a child is moving along a path that’s not in their best interest – especially teens. The biggest frustration as a parent is not being able to communicate what you know from experience as wise counsel to someone who cannot envision a future past 5 minutes from now.

Somehow most of us get through that period by doing the best job we know how and manage to turn out solid citizens.

Oftentimes that teenage part of people doesn’t grow up and they remain unreachable because they have no sense of the troubled environment they live in.

Any physician, counselor, clergy member, family member or good friend will tell you the most exasperating situation to be in, is with a person who knows it all but knows nothing.

Reminds me of a story . . .

Many years ago I worked with a very brilliant man who was destroying his life through abusing himself. No one could reach him because he would only engage in the debate on the plane of words and ideas and never that of behavior. Truth be told, he was an arrogant ass, but one that was in trouble. This story doesn’t have a happy ending. He left our midst at an earlier age than his insurance policy expected because he refused to grow up.

Teenage years are for teenagers.

There is a difference between youthful exuberance and reckless behavior but many troubled adults have not parsed that difference. They have patterns that need updating. What to do?

The answer is: “I don’t know.”

Helping someone who doesn’t want help is swimming upstream. They’ve been offered the invitation to “go deeper” but have ignored it at every turn. Does this mean we stop sending out invites?

That’s an answer only you can come up with. My personal strategy is to continue making efforts but not the same ones that have failed in the past. Yet even if we are Edison-like in our ingenuity, we may never get them to see the light. Reminds me of another story . . .

Twenty some years ago Dr. Dave Dobson asked our class what we would do if we were piloting a plane heading for the ground at 500 MPH? We offered many different answers to his question, and our answers were always followed up with his next question: “What if it doesn’t work, then what would you do?” This went on and on until we ran out of answers. He then asked us in his Socratic method if we would like to know what the answer was. We all answered “Yes.” He said the answer to his follow-up question is, “Anything else.”

“Anything else” requires a lot more curiosity and tenacity than giving up. The only question you then have to ask is, “Is the person worth my continued effort?” Don’t be surprised if the answer is “No.”

Some people have to bump into every doorknob and bruise themselves mercilessly before they believe there is a doorway. It may not be in your best interest to walk every step of the way with them in that unlit “funhouse.”

Again, I don’t yet have an answer to this dilemma. I guess my purpose in writing about this conundrum is to point out there are two options you may not have considered – “Anything else” and “No.” It’s a toss-up.

Anybody got a lucky coin?

All the best,

John

Here’s a new turn to an old phrase: “Birds of a feather s**t together.”

Did you ever notice that some people surround themselves with people who give them an excuse to continue their behavior? The psychological community calls these surrounding folks “enablers.”

The person caught in a web of problematic behavior has little chance for escape while hanging out with enabling spiders.

Many years ago, I remember Harvey Diamond co-author of FIT FOR LIFE telling me that if you return to the conditions of health, watch your health return.

I recently read Dr. Bruce Lipton‘s THE BIOLOGY OF BELIEF where he addresses the same topic on a cellular level. He discovered during his cellular biology work that if you provide a nutrient rich environment to a sick cell, it returns to a healthy state.

The same formula applies to human behavior.

If you hang out with a pack of thieves, where is your focus? – On stealing.

Do the people you hang with allow you to get away with your debilitating behavior? You call them friends, but a person in this situation wouldn’t recognize a real friend if it handed them a business card. This environment will never return you to a condition of health – physical or otherwise.

People who make excuses for your behavior have their head somewhere where the light of day doesn’t shine. You may call this love, but I call it an assisted suicide on the installment plan.

The mirror is your physician. It won’t lie and it doesn’t airbrush. Take a good look, flaws and all and then step away and evaluate the environment that’s contributing to your situation.

Change your environment and you are at the doorstep of change.

This or any other message of change won’t reach a person unwilling to stop swimming in a cesspool.

“But sometimes it takes a gruff old son of a bitch like me to get your attention,” said the late Dr. Dave Dobson.

This is a gruff message that’s attempting to reach the insulated parts of us that need to hear it.

Does your surrounding environment nurture or negate you?

You already know the answer. The hope is that you give it before the test is over.

All the best,

John

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH

I don’t know where I first heard it but someone asked, “Is your religion working for you?” He then went on to say, “If not, it’s time to get a new religion.”

Since you never talk about politics or religion in mixed company, let’s shift the topic to beliefs.

Religion is a formal set of stated beliefs. That’s pretty easy to understand. The same is true for a political position.

The sticky wicket is when we attempt to force feed our beliefs down someone’s throat or vice-versa.

My suggestion is simple. Before you attempt to jam what you know to be true, make sure it’s working for you.

If you examine your beliefs, you will find that most of them were never independently arrived at. You got them from someone else well before you even knew what a belief was. Your belief is somebody else’s belief. Think about this: Did you arrive at your pet prejudice on your own or did you have help?

The difficulty with unexamined beliefs is that many of us will stand on soap boxes and shout our beliefs and never notice that our pointing finger is unwashed.

No one is without sin. We all do it. It’s just a matter of degree.

The question you may want to ask is: “To what degree are my beliefs standing in my way?”

Some beliefs are harmless. Maybe salt water does cure everything as my mother would say as she encouraged us to bathe a wound in the ocean. Early signs of the “Placebo Effect”?

Other beliefs just keep us stuck and sometimes we attempt to stick everyone within earshot with our syringe full of syllogisms without testing them out first.

This doesn’t have to be a final examination. Start with a pop quiz and find a minor belief that isn’t working for you and notice it in action. Don’t attempt to change it, just watch yourself execute the behavior associated with the belief.

When you begin to notice your beliefs, they will either stand up to scrutiny or they won’t. Shedding light on our beliefs has the ones that truly don’t work head for the cover of darkness – the only place from which they can operate.

If your belief can’t stand up to the light of day, you can be sure it’s one that’s standing in your way.

How honest can you be with yourself? Your degree of honesty will determine how much longer your stay in the dark will be.

Anybody got a match?

All the best,

John

PS I request that you visit http://johnmorganseminars.com and find something during our HALF PRICE Summer Sale that’s just right for you.

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH

The Grasshopper was humming this nugget of wisdom this morning:

“Hope without dare remains an unfulfilled wish.”

What we hope for is easily recognized. What we dare to do to fulfill that hope is the catalyst that makes it happen.

Hope is a framework for action to take place.

Dare is the missing ingredient in unrequited hopes.

The flamboyant and very successful business consultant and abrupt philosopher, Fernando Flores says, “Hope is the raw material for losers.”

His mantra wouldn’t garner as much attention if he soft pedaled it by saying, “Hope, alone, is the raw material for people who do not get what they want,” but that would be closer to the truth.

Hope by itself remains inert.

Hopes will remain hopes without daring to take action.

President Obama’s book is called The Audacity of Hope. The title is deceiving. If you read through its pages, you will find the content suggests the “Audicity of Action.”

Reminds me of a story . . .

At every seminar I have ever conducted, I have heard this phrase: “I hope this works for me.” I don’t respond to it every time but one of the responses that just came out one night was in the form of a question. I asked, “If you hope in one hand and spit in the other hand, which hand will fill up first?”

Hopes and aspirations are essential prerequisites for fulfilling life’s dreams. If you stop there, without dare, you remain hopeless.

I double dare you to act on your hopes.

All the best,

John

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH

PS If you missed my announcement yesterday about the FREE Hypnosis Recording I am offering for downloading to your computer, read yesterday’s blog post.

Here is a memorable quote from St. Augustine:

“The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page.”

I’m sure that’s a great marketing message for a travel agency but I’m wondering if it has a deeper implication.

When we cover the same route day after day, I’m not sure that’s traveling in the deepest sense. We are creatures of patterns and if we examine them closely, we find we only use a handful of them to move through our life. We don’t push past the tried and true. That’s not travelling; that’s treadmilling.

Our patterns get us to do the same things over and over again whether we consciously want to or not. This keeps us covering the same territory day after day, and we arrive at the conclusion that branching out is only for other people. That’s a mindset that will have you read the same page over and over again.

How do we travel past what is holding us in place?

Noticing!

Notice that you are the cause of your own inertia. Notice that you are no different than a rat running a maze to find the same old moldy cheese. The time to notice is when you are in the middle of the pattern you are about to execute for the zillionth time.

Noticing is an art and it’s also a science.

The art is picking the precise time to notice and the science is the measurable change that will take place.

Reminds me of one of my favorite stories . . .

I grew up in Philadelphia, PA and like many people around the country, Philadelphians have a unique pattern of speech. I was working in broadcasting at a radio station in St. Louis and my program director noticed I had an interesting way of saying the word “water.” People in Philadelphia say “wooder.” I had no idea I was saying it any different than he was. He took me into one of the recording studios and had both of us record the word. After a few playbacks of the tapes, I got it that I had a pattern of speech that was different than his and, in this case, not working for me.

I became aware of the pattern. That was not enough. I practiced saying “water” the way he said it over and over and it wasn’t getting me any results. When I got into my unguarded conversational mode, the pronunciation of “wooder” would come out. I was frustrated. I wanted to sound more professional but my strategy was not working. Then I accidentally discovered what, I learned many years later, is a method for outgrowing an old pattern.

The change began when I became aware of the pattern while it was happening. I remember saying something like “It’s a pretty hot day out there today. Make sure to drink plenty of “wood,” uh drink plenty of water.” I caught myself running the pattern and interrupted it in midstream. From that point forward, every time I started to say “wooder,” I would interrupt myself and say “water.” It didn’t take too long for the complete change to take place. The only time I ever say “wooder” is to tell this story.

When you notice that you’re running a pattern that’s keeping you in place, interrupt it in midstream. That’s the art. Continue to do it every time you notice the outdated pattern beginning to run. The science is working in the background. It seems like magic, but it’s science. You begin the process of updating an old pattern by interrupting it and allowing your mind to come up with a new pattern. In my case I knew what the desired new pattern was. It’s not necessary to know the new pattern. Trust that your mind will create a beneficial new one to take the old one’s place. That’s the science.

If you’re travelling in circles, it’s time to start noticing and interrupting. This strategy will help you turn the page.

All the best,

John

PS Below is a message I sent out to my John Morgan Seminars database this morning. It’s about a FREE offer for my CALM & COLLECTED recording and it’s an alert to tell them about my HALF PRICE Summer Sale. Please let your friends and family members know about this FREE offer and sale.

TWO GREAT THINGS TO TELL YOU ABOUT

1. We are now offering John Morgan’s CALM & COLLECTED Recording as a FREE Digital Download. (More on how to do that later in the letter)
2. Our HALF PRICE Summer Sale has begun . . . and we are offering FREE SHIPPING!

HALF PRICE SUMMER SALE

Every John Morgan life enhancing DVD, CD, and Digital Download is now available at HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING.

We are moving our base of operation from Lady Lake, FL to Plant City, FL which is a pain in the drain for us, but great news for you. Our shipping manager (The General) does not want to cart our current supplies to our new location. So we’re having a “Blow the Doors Off” Sale where every product is HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING.

The 50% discount will be taken at checkout at http://johnmorganseminars.com

Imagine being able to get all the life enhancing John Morgan Hypnosis CDs, DVDs and Digital Downloads at HALF PRICE and with NO SHIPPING CHARGES!

If you’re dreading the bathing suit season, purchase LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF for HALF PRICE and finally get yourself in shape for Summer.

Maybe the only smoking you want to participate in is Bar-B-Que-ing in the back yard. Now’s the time to order STOP SMOKING FOREVER and put smoking in your past. Order now at http://johnmorganseminars.com and you’ll get STOP SMOKING FOREVER for HALF PRICE with FREE Shipping.

All of our DVDs, CDs and Digital Downloads make great gifts and now you don’t have to spend a lot of money to give a memorable and life enhancing gift.

Father’s Day is coming up. How about HYPNOSIS FOR GOLF MASTERY for Dad or your hubby? You can buy it now for HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING. All 50% discounts will be taken at checkout at http://johnmorganseminars.com

Maybe you want to IMPROVE YOUR SELF IMAGE for Summer. You can do it now for HALF PRICE and FREE SHIPPING! (IMPROVE YOUR SELF IMAGE is the biggest selling CD at all my seminars). Order now at http://johnmorganseminars.com

Is it finally time to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT so you can enjoy the fabulous Summer Days? Order SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT right now for HALF PRICE and with FREE SHIPPING. (This is the CD I created to cure my own battle with insomnia).

By the way, did you know that the only time an adult secretes Growth Hormone is while sleeping deeply? Why is that important? Why do I need growth hormone as an adult? (Pssst . . . don’t tell anyone the secret. Growth hormone speeds up your metabolism and helps you lose weight faster). SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT will get you sleeping deeply. Order it now at http://johnmorganseminars.com

Know someone wound like a top? Get them a copy of RELAX IN 2 MINUTES and they can learn how to relax anytime, anywhere in 2 minutes or less. Buy a copy for yourself too at HALF PRICE and with FREE SHIPPING! (I came up with the idea for this CD after watching the tension filled people on the streets of New York City and I instantly knew there was a sure-fire way to help them relax quickly.) RELAX IN 2 MINUTES belongs on your portable music player. Order now for HALF PRICE at http://johnmorganseminars.com

Do you have friends the same age as you that never seem to age as quickly as you? Yes, a small part of it is genetics, but the major part of it comes from the youthful environment they set in their mind. FOREVER YOUNG is a recording that will help you create that environment in your mind. One woman calls it “Botox for the Brain” and a man in his mid 60s calls it “Virtual Viagra.”

FOREVER YOUNG will have you feel younger than your years, and don’t be too surprised about how you begin to look more youthful after listening to this recording. Get FOREVER YOUNG now for HALF PRICE and with FREE SHIPPING at http://johnmorganseminars.com

Every DVD and CD we sell before Midnight on July 6^th is one less we have to move from Lady Lake to Plant City, Florida. The sale will end soon, so take advantage now and buy all of our DVDs, CDs and Digital Downloads at HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING.

The HALF PRICE sale includes the two CD Set called I LOVE MY BODY. Many people have an ongoing fight with their body which gets in the way of getting the body shape they want. Learn to make peace with your body and learn the magic of Self Acceptance Psychology. The result is a body that’s willing to cooperate with your wishes. When you LOVE YOUR BODY, your body loves you back. Order I LOVE MY BODY now for HALF PRICE and with FREE SHIPPING at http://johnmorganseminars.com

If you enjoy getting massages, you will love VIRTUAL MASSAGE by Hali Chambers. This is your spa away from the spa. Hali’s enchanting voice will guide you through a full body massage that has you feel like you are on her massage table. My muscles melt every time I listen to VIRTUAL MASSAGE. It’s also HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING at http://johnmorganseminars.com

I have saved our latest recording for last. The worldwide response to HYPNOSIS FOR DOGS has been absolutely incredible. We’ve had tons of orders from every continent but Antarctica. (Maybe we should do “Hypnosis for Penguins”). HYPNOSIS FOR DOGS has been featured in many international dog magazines including America’s own DOG FANCY Magazine – the leader in the industry. You can now get your dog to “Relax and Calm Down” with HYPNOSIS FOR DOGS and at HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING! Order now at http://johnmorganseminars.com

FREE OFFER

CALM & COLLECTED is the recording that comes with all our seminars and I’m offering it to you for FREE for a limited time as a DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY! The only catch is you have to go to another website to download it. Here is that website http://johnmorgandownloads.com

You will be asked for your name and email address and a code. Here is the code JMDL723 (The code is case sensitive).

CALM & COLLECTED can be used for any goal. There is a written exercise that you need to do before using CALM & COLLECTED and you can find that written exercise here: http://johnmorganseminars.com/CalmCollected.htm

After you take the 12 to 15 minutes to do the written exercise (which you only have to do once), start listening to the CALM & COLLECTED Digital Download for 21 days in a row and let us know about the amazing results.

NOTE: Sorry to make you jump through a couple of hoops to get this FREE recording for you or someone you care about deeply. The effort is worth it.

WARNING: if you order CALM & COLLECTED at http://johnmorganseminars.com, you will be charged $5. To get the Digital Download for FREE, go to http://johnmorgandownloads.com and follow the instructions.

RECAP

We are moving our base of operations and are having a HALF PRICE SALE with FREE SHIPPING on all our DVDs, CDs and Digital Downloads at http://johnmorganseminars.com

The sale will go through Midnight July 6, 2009.

I request that you act right now and order the life enhancing John Morgan DVDs, CDs and Digital Downloads that you’ve always wanted because you can now get them all for HALF PRICE and with FREE SHIPPING!

I will send you periodic reminders from time to time about our HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING Summer Sale.

All the best,

John Morgan

PS Forward this email to your friends and family members so they can take advantage of our HALF PRICE with FREE SHIPPING Summer Sale and get the FREE Digital Download of CALM & COLLECTED.

PPS Happy Summer!

The Grasshopper dropped by for a brief visit this morning and left this nip of nectar:

“Your future will be the offspring of what you’re doing now. What seeds are you sowing now?”

All the best,

John

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH

It was late last night when The Grasshopper visited and offered these words:

“It’s hard to get what you want when what you want doesn’t exist.”

I had to sleep on that.

It occurred to me that lifetimes are spent chasing things that don’t exist. It’s easy to laugh at Don Quixote‘s imaginings as he “tilts at windmills.” It’s not as funny when we find ourselves fighting with life to obtain that which doesn’t exist.

When I ask people what they want, one of the stock answers is “I want to be happy.” Happy is a mindset, not a person, a place or a set of circumstances. When we seek happiness as a perpetual state, we will be disappointed on two fronts.

Firstly, everlasting happiness doesn’t exist. No human being has it. If someone is trying to sell you that notion, run away as fast as you can. Secondly, the person, place or thing we seek to be happy is in a future environment – a place that doesn’t exist now. We pretend that environment has to be in place before we can be happy. We’ve set it up that happiness is always a carrot stick away. Happiness can be present in any environment. We just have to notice and decide if we want to let it in.

But let’s not stop at happiness. Are you looking for a pain free life? It doesn’t exist. How about a life without challenges or change? That’s also non-existent.

It can even be more subtle than the scenarios I’ve outlined. You may be looking for something that culture has convinced you that does exist, but you can’t find it out there. It usually falls into the category of a verb that has been changed to a noun – fulfillment, satisfaction, security, etc. You keep looking but you are always thwarted in your efforts. “If I didn’t have bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all” seems to be the mantra of the seeker of that which doesn’t exist.

We rarely take the time to reflect on whether what we have been conditioned to want even exists. We go on a grand treasure hunt without a map, but more sadly, without a pot of gold at the end of the airbrushed rainbow. It would be like dedicating your life to finding the contents of Al Capone‘s hidden safe and finally finding out there was nothing in there.

What a waste.

What are you chasing? Does it exist?

Just look at your life and look at what you’ve been chasing. If it hasn’t shown up yet, there is a high probability that it doesn’t exist.

It’s time to just STOP!

Stop chasing the horizon. Stand and enjoy the sunrise or sunset. You can appreciate it from any vantage point now. If you could get there, you’d burn up in the process. If you’re chasing what doesn’t exist, you are expending all your energy and getting no return on investment. Just STOP Now!

Spend some time alone. Find yourself. You exist. You are more of a treasure than anything you’ve been chasing. It takes great courage to find out that you are your own reward. Step in that direction – the one that brings you home to you.

All the best,

John

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH

Just about every financial whiz out there recommends evaluating your portfolio on a regular basis. It just makes sense.

You find out where you currently are, where you would like to go, and then determine if you have a workable strategy in place. It’s valuable to take stock from time to time.

Do you ever stop to consider where your energy is invested?

Our energy is a precious commodity and we have the tendency to invest it and forget it. We, through conditioning, use our energy in patterned ways. These ways may have made terrific sense at one time, but they may not be serving us now, yet we continue the investment.

How much of your energy is invested in something that’s not going to pan out? That’s a prescription for energy depletion. It’s a misappropriation of a valued resource.

How much time do you spend inside your head expending energy on what has happened or what could happen? That’s a lot of energy invested in two places that don’t currently exist – the past and the future.

Very little energy is invested in the moment you happen to be in – the only one that can bring you a return on investment – now.

Focusing on now is the wisest use of your energy. It’s fuel efficient and gives you the most miles per gallon. Dwelling on the past or worrying about the future is keeping the pedal to the metal at all times. You run out of gas more often than not.

It’s your energy and no one can tell you how to use it but you.

I’m just wondering if you’ve taken a look under the hood recently to find out if your energy is being put to efficient use or if it’s going up in smoke.

Energy is like the game of Monopoly. You get a fixed amount of money at the beginning of the game and depending on how you put it to use, it will determine how far you go. Are you paying rent to others or are you collecting on your investment?

Invest your energy wisely. Invest your energy now. It pays dividends that fuel you up the steepest inclines with energy to spare.

All the best,

John

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH

Next to inertia, I believe the avoidance of step-by-step has been my largest nemesis in life. I don’t believe I’m alone.

Getting started is always taking the first step. It takes a lot for some people to advance their toes on that journey. The thing that keeps inertia in place is the daunting vision or conversation we have with ourselves about the proposed trek and the attendant feelings about the number of steps that are necessary after the first one.

That’s enough to stop anyone in their tracks.

I’ve discovered the secret about treks. There is only one step necessary – the one you are on now.

We just never give the proper attention to the step we are taking right now. We have the tendency to ignore it while we ponder other steps that can’t possibly happen until we complete this one. I call it paint-by-numbers boredom. See my blog post from last November.

There is a certain allure of beginning at the top without having to build a foundation. It’s embedded in our culture, mainly through advertising, that there is a shortcut for everything. Reminds me of a story . . .

I am a big fan of Little Richard – one of the pioneers of rock and roll. I loved watching him play the piano with that raw energy and blinding speed. I took piano lessons as a kid but never had the discipline to get past the scales. I wanted to be able to play “Good Golly Miss Molly“ right away.

Later as an adult, I asked my friend, an accomplished pianist, to show me the notes and chords to play that song. I just wanted to know how to play the introduction, nothing more. He showed me but my playing of those notes and chords never sounded like his. I was missing the foundational training of rhythm and tempo and other nuances that made my presentation sound stilted and disjointed.

Here’s the lesson: You have a whim, not a desire if you aren’t willing to embrace step-by-step.

If you string back-to-back whims together, you unwittingly have, step-by-step, built a pretty unfocused life.

“You’re lazy” does not apply in many cases. It’s more like “you’re whimsy.”

Here’s a suggestion: If you have found a vague description of yourself within this blog post, commit to something, no matter how small, and do it step-by-step. Follow the recipe to the letter and notice the result.

If you want your life to be more than a collection of tips and tricks, get curious about immersing yourself in something – step-by-step.

All the best,

John

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH

Got a visit from The Grasshopper last night. He said,

“What you know pales in comparison to what you have access to.”

I had to let this one settle in. After some quiet reflection, my sense is it’s about internal resources.

Reminds me of a story . . .

We have a quaint old library in the town where I live. It’s not the big, main library but a regional one that’s been around since the turn of a couple of centuries. It’s quite the experience to go in there and soak up all the history and charm and browse the books and services they have to offer. Size and budget keeps its resources at a level lower than the main library but it has a feel you’ll never get in a big modern building.

The same is true about what we know. It’s personal, unique and has a familiar feel. After all, nobody has the exact collection you contain but you.

The difficulty develops when we limit ourselves by what we know. We may evaluate our own personal collection of knowledge and find that others have quite a bit more on hand than we do. We may label them superior. We may think that we have the upper hand in the area of knowledge and label others with less as inferior. The truth is there will always be someone who is smarter/dumber and more or less knowledgeable than we are.

Enter the great equalizer for all – access.

Every public library has the capacity to order a book not on its shelves. And most of them have computers to search the world for useful information that may not be in book form. You also have access to a much bigger database, but you may lack the mindset to find it or use it. That’s called being stuck in your ways.

If all you want to do is browse the limited amount of books in your personal library, you will be going over the same information again and again. You may be hesitant to use the computer to do a wider search on what you’re looking for because it’s unfamiliar to you. You will remain impoverished if you have anachronistic tendencies and refuse to branch out. What you remain stuck with is a label that glues you in place.

It’s not always the best and brightest that bring stellar results. If you need an example, look what the geniuses of Wall Street have delivered recently.

The person who pokes past their collected knowledge and mines their internal resources is on the fast track to discovery. What they will discover is that knowledge is limiting. There is only so much of it we can retain, depending on the size of our library. If we determine that’s all there is, we miss the opportunity to grow.

To gain access to our unlimited, internal resources, we have to let go of what we know. It’s the first step.

There’s an old expression about financial resources that explains the comparison between knowledge and internal resources. When comparing their financial holdings, one person says to the other, “If I had your money, I would burn mine.”

When you gain access to your internal resources, your knowledge compared to your wisdom begins to pale by comparison.

You do have access to internal resources. The only question you need to ask yourself is, “Am I brave enough to let go of what I know?”

What could you find out if you weren’t hampered by what you know? Lots!

Here’s a challenge. Find something you know that’s in cement. Chisel it out and set it aside. It will be there if you need it. Now get curious about what you can find out without having what you know be foundational. It may feel like taking a rock to a knife fight at first but it gets easier the more we practice.

Give yourself some quiet time where you can experience the deep reflection of not having to know anything. I like to call this time what Longfellow referred to “a pause in the day’s occupations.” Out of this “pause” comes insight – something you would never find in a book.

To get there you only need to heed the words of the librarian – “Be quiet.”

All the best,

John

http://JohnMorganHypnosis.com

http://GrasshopperNotes.com

http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan

http://www.cafepress.com/grasshoppernote/3580301

http://HypnosisForDogs.com

SAVE THE IRISH