The Grasshopper had this to say this morning, “The biggest bugaboo is follow-through.”

It didn’t take me too long to realize he was referring to us starting but not completing.

Some folks are perpetual starters. They get a creative notion but it doesn’t take form due to a lack of motion.

In order to get through to the other side, it’s helpful to follow this practice: Master the foothills before you attempt to scale the mountain.

We’ve become a shortcut society. Everything is wanted by yesterday. The seeking of shortcuts becomes our shortfall because we use so much of our time looking for ways to avoid the work that’s necessary for completion to take place.

I remember my friend Paul interviewing the author of the famous “Spenser” books, Robert B. Parker. When asked about the daunting task of writing books (a mountain if there ever was one), he said something like this: “I set aside two hours each morning to write. Some mornings I write a sentence or two in that time frame. Other days, I can’t stop writing and go past the scheduled time.” The point being that he set the time for work and adhered to that practice.

So, to put a finishing touch on The Grasshopper’s musing, you’re guaranteed to be more productive if you follow Robert B. Parker’s example. To use a manufacturing term, It will keep your “throughput” from going kaput.

All the best,

John

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Here is the recorded version of the Grasshopper Note for the week of 7-20-20.

Read the written version here.

 

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Our world has highly educated and highly experienced people. Often these two peoples’ are at odds.

Highly educated, smart people aren’t necessarily experienced. And experienced people aren’t necessarily smart.

In America, we build altars to one and keep the other on the church steps. Can you guess which one is exalted?

Common sense is available to both, but it seems one uses it more than the other. Can you guess which one?

Smart people are great arguers. Experienced people let their results speak for themselves.

Smart people cite facts to make their arguments. Experienced people don’t let facts deter them. It’s not that they don’t recognize facts; they just don’t misapply them.

Perhaps a story would be helpful . . . Here’s my experience when attempting to help very smart people overcome something that’s getting in their way. Smart people are harder to help because they amass abundant facts and build a wall around themselves with them. It’s hard to penetrate that wall and get them to see that they use facts as a defense of their limitation.

Smart people often confuse themselves with the facts. They find a never-ending list of them to declare and defend their position that something’s not possible, whereas the experienced person is more focused on the outcome they want and don’t let the facts get in the way.

It seems the smarter we are, the more abundant our facts, and our excuses.

This is not a rant against smart people. I love them. They bring unlimited perspectives to things I would never have thought of. It’s more of an acknowledgement of experienced peoples’ accomplishments – ones they were never schooled in.

Here’s my self-educated request: Show me your experience, not your argument.

All the best,

John

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We do a lot of dances in a lifetime, probably the most famous being, “Two steps forward, one step back.” That one’s like “The Twist”; everybody can do it.

There is another dance that requires two steps. We often do the first one but don’t do the second to complete the move. I call it “The Creative-2 Step.”

And coming from someone who is a “Johnny Castle Dance School” dropout – me, I can attest that “The Creative 2-Step” is easy to learn, but it takes follow-through. You have to do Step number 2.

If you don’t, you only do half a dance. It would be like doing “The Cha” instead of the “Cha-Cha.”

So, here are the two steps to the Creativity Dance:

1. The Inspiration.

2. The Implementation.

How often have you gotten a creative idea from out of the blue and then just let it sit on the shelf and collect dust? Or maybe you got the inspiration but you put it in the attic or basement of your mind where it still sits unfulfilled.

To be truly creative requires both steps. The American poet and diplomat James Russell Lowell said it this way: “Creativity is not the finding of a thing, but the making something out of it after it is found.”

And Julia Cameron famous author of “The Artist’s Way,” had this to say, “Creativity is God’s gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.”

There is a part of us that knows how to do the Creativity Dance. In order to let that ability to come through, we have to practice doing step number two.

All the best,

John

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Do you find looking at the ocean calming? How about gazing over a still lake; does that quiet and calm you? Most folks answer “yes.”

I got to wondering what it is about these sights that take us out of our head and into our senses. Here’s an answer I came up with: The scenes are vast and there is nothing else in them to distract us. Our focus is on one thing – the only thing in our view. That’s hypnotic.

Think of the movie scene where a hypnotist swings a pocket watch on a chain and asks the subject to follow its movements. The person’s attention is on one thing, and one thing only, and they are easily lead into a calmer, undistracted state of mind.

Objects that we laser focus on are vehicles that transport us to what The Buddha called, “no mind.” Whether you repeatedly chant “OM” or devoutly recite a prayer, it acts as a vehicle to take you from here to “there.” “There” being a place where you’re not distracted by your thoughts.

Many have a name for this place: Nirvana, Utopia, The Kingdom of Heaven, etc. The descriptor I use is the “Cauldron of Creativity.”

A quiet mind is a creative mind. No distractions telling you what’s not possible.

Just in case you think this message is for the “touchy-feely” crowd, consider the words of the highly successful entrepreneur and investor Naval RaviKant:

“A busy calendar and a busy mind will destroy your ability to do great things in this world. If you want to be able to do great things, whether you’re a musician, or whether you’re an entrepreneur, or whether you’re an investor, you need free time and you need a free mind.”

Want more smooth sailing? Focus on calming seas.

All the best,

John

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Here is the recorded version of the Grasshopper Note for the week of 7-13-20.

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Hi Folks,

I am seeking your opinion. I’m creating a journal filled with quotes for people to reflect on. I call them mini-meditations.

Following is a numbered list of potential candidates. I’m requesting that you jot down the numbers of any of them that speak to you, or get you to see things in a different way, or ones that you just get a special feeling about, and reply to me with your numbers.

I value your opinion, that’s why I’m sending this list to you.

If you choose to participate or not, I totally understand and thank you for considering my request.

All the best,
John

P.S. Most people can breeze through this list in about 10 minutes. I’m looking for your gut impressions. No deep dive is necessary.

P.P.S. Important: No one will be identified in the journal for their submitted preferences.

QUOTES

1. No creativity comes from a reaction, only predictability.

2. A parrot can quote a sacred text; only a hypocrite can defile it.

3. Humpty Dumpty and spilt milk make a great omelet.

4. I think, therefore I am, unhappy.

5. Alone is a fact; lonely is a state of mind.

6. Your strongest asset is your Achilles heel.

7. Living in the past is like dancing with a corpse.

8. Resistance is holding on to what was; acceptance is seeing what is.

9. That which we reach out for is glitter; that which we mine for is gold.

10. You are a conduit for creativity.

11. A hug doesn’t talk.

12. Ask for what you want. Beating around the bush can get you poison ivy.

13. People are hiding jackasses when they send out scapegoats.

14. If you live in a world of right and wrong, you will always have enemies.

15. Sensations need no debate; they’re either OK or not OK.

16. Be grateful for the gifts you already have and watch them multiply.

17. You came from nothing; you’re returning to nothing; so while you’re here, do something.

18. Know less; discover more.

19. There is little room for flexibility once you marry a theory.

20. If you are uncomfortable at home, you live in a house.

21. Who recognizes the beauty in others? – The beauty in you.

22. The Past: Holding on to what you don’t have.

23. Success lies outside your comfort zone.

24. What you know pales in comparison to what you have access to.

25. Pretend there is no other time than the present and you won’t be pretending.

26. The more rules you have, the less flexible you are.

27. These are three words that delay happiness: If, When, and Then.

28. Find your excuse and you’ll find your problem.

29. Ask anyone about their hopes, dreams, and, aspirations and you will make a new friend.

30. The thumb that’s holding you down contains your fingerprint.

31. Your patterns of behavior are not enemies, just parts of you that are outdated and not working anymore.

32. The more you keep hidden, the less intimacy you’ll experience.

33. A true apology comes without justification.

34. Crying is nature’s way of washing away the thoughts that are stuck in your mind.

35. Every time you outgrow something, you peel away a layer of conditioning.

36. You find the end of pretend when you stop chasing the horizon.

37. Focus will take you farther than your talent.

38. The only accurate barometer to measure yourself by is your behavior.

39. You have to self-accept before you can self-improve.

40. If opposition is your first response, you worship at the altar of control.

41. You can’t be a rock star with part-time passion.

42. I have to give up what I know about you to get to know you.

43. There is a God even atheists can believe in: Creativity.

44. You may have to get dirty (translate that to uncomfortable) in order to clean things up.

45. The thing you believe missing in your life is not missing at all. It’s just not in your vision. It exists; you just can’t see it, yet.

46. The thinner your skin, the larger your ego.

47. The person who is more flexible has more options.

48. Is Reality your punching bag? The only one getting worn out is you.

49. The degree to which you suffer is proportionate to your resistance.

50. Unwinding is simply unbinding yourself from your thoughts.

51. When you are physically here and mentally there, you are unconscious.

52. Every lie that you live is a block to your freedom.

53. Your misery will continue if you’d rather be right than get right.

54. There are many people qualified to tell you what’s wrong with you, but only one is qualified to fix it – YOU!

55. The next time you find yourself on the other side of an issue with someone, have the presence of mind to ask yourself, “Where do we agree?”

56. Real forgiveness is not something you talk yourself into; it’s something you feel.

57. Resist being a jukebox today, where people push your buttons and you spin out the same old song.

58. When you’re having a conversation with someone, you’re either sharing reality or sharing philosophy. It helps to know which conversation you’re having.

59. Sometimes it has to get totally dark for someone to see the light.

60. Justifying something keeps something in place.

61. Mistakes have two things in common: They have consequences and they have growth potential.

62. When your life is a way station between events, you have no life.

63. Happiness is a state of mind; peacefulness is a state of being.

64. How often do we color the present with yesterday’s crayons?

65. Ego: All wrapped up in who I’m not.

66. If you want what someone else has, don’t envy them; emulate them.

67. If you’re not carving out a small portion of your day for yourself, you are doing yourself and those around you a giant disservice.

68. Doing diffuses fear.

69. Helping people comes down to this: helping them discover more options. It’s really that basic.

70. The End of Pretend: When you come to a crossroads and realize you are unwilling to make the effort to get what you say you want.

71. The quiet we all seek is between our thoughts.

72. The key to become more welcome is to be more welcoming.

73. Don’t wait for a date to celebrate.

74. Most need a shake to become awake.

75. Many people have a self-image that’s like a Hollywood movie set: all storefront and no store.

76. Before you attempt to convert someone to something you claim to be true, make sure it’s working for you.

77. Hope without dare remains an unfulfilled wish.

78. Life flows into your passion; it drains from your addiction.

79. If you hang on to being right, you’ll hang yourself out to dry.

80. The surest way to NOT get what you want is to stay focused on what you don’t want.

81. Find a place where opinions don’t matter and you’ll find peace.

82. Being open creates more possibilities; being closed continually shuts the door.

83. If you would rather feel the shame of guilt rather than experience the pain of feeling wrong, you’ll never admit to anything.

84. Resumes are not filled with things you tried to do.

85. You can’t teach that which you’re unwilling to learn.

86. Learn from nature: it never demands a flower without first sowing a seed.

87. If you continually deny your feelings, you are drowning in your own fairy tale.

88. We bury our aliveness when we smother it with superficiality.

89. Weakness: Thinking you can think your way out of your vices.

90. One of life’s hardest realities to swallow is that there is another way besides yours.

91. Real communication with another begins when you get past your judgements of them.

92. A pause precedes wisdom.

93. Many people spend their whole life chasing life rather than stopping to live it.

94. Offer your presence and you’ll always bring a gift.

95. If you had no audience, what song would you sing for yourself?

96. True giving has nothing to do with receiving. There is no quid pro quo.

97. Gratitude is a bird you can’t overcook.

98. Our feeling sense decides before a decision registers in our mind.

99. Are you just doing or accomplishing? The difference is focus.

100. A phrase of possibility: I haven’t figured out how to do that, yet.

101. You are a complete package. The only thing that has changed is that you have forgotten.

102. If you’re always the hero of your story, you aren’t very brave.

103. A notion without emotion is just a good idea.

104. There’s no turning corners if you’re going around in circles.

105. Creativity comes quicker when you learn the art of waiting.

106. A foe will help you grow.

107. Feelings are as individual as snowflakes – no two people get hit with the same snowball.

108. When conversation turns into competition, you no longer have communication.

109. Spontaneity spawns creativity.

110. If your head is up your ass, even if you open your eyes, you’re still in the dark.

111. There is nothing you can do about your actual age except lie about it.

112. When we live inside our head, we are participating in theatre, not life.

113. Retreat doesn’t mean defeat.

114. Moving your old stuff from one day to the next can turn into a lifetime of being a pack mule for pain.

115. It’s an eye-opening experience to notice how much of what we believe is devoid of evidence.

116. When you grasp the reality that what you have today is of your own creation, you have taken back the reins of life from the fairy tale of fate.

117. Nature doesn’t think; it just creates.

118. You’d be surprised how wonderful you’d feel if you took a moment now to just write down the things that you love.

119. If excuses were currency, we’d all be rich.

120. In the last argument you had with yourself, who won?

121. Until you are ready to go for what you want without conditions, you will remain a member of the world’s most popular dance club: Two steps forward, one step back.

122. The price of friendship is investment.

123. For dust to settle, you have to stop kicking it up.

124. Want to wait forever? Just wait for someone to knock on your door and hand you a basket full of fruition.

125. Having conditions for happiness is an impediment to happiness.

126. Patience is the ability to not rush something.

127. Perhaps today can be your new happiest day.

128. If you hope in one hand and spit in the other, which hand will fill up first?

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I will forever be awed by the power of a story. Stories are like electricity: They can either illuminate or keep us in the dark.

Some powerful stories are legendary and, in many cases, transformative. They appear in sacred texts, works of art, memorable films, etc.

Other powerful stories are constricting and constraining. These are mostly our personal stories. The sad part about these accounts is that we don’t know the governor they have on our ability to move forward.

We can be very vocal about our stories and tell them to anyone willing to listen. But even if we’re secretive and only tell the story to ourselves, we reveal its existence to others with subconscious, subtle clues that slip out.

I will be forever grateful to author and spiritual teacher Byron Katie for the profound question she asks: “Who are you without your story?”

Our stories often serve as justifications for why we are the way we are. We are subconsciously steeped in these justifications and what we reveal to anyone willing to pay attention is that we’re not willing to give up these rationales for our behavior, and thus we live “Groundhog Day” over and over.

I often cite this absurd story to make the point: “I’m the child of verbally abusive, emotionally unavailable, rodeo clowns.” Yes, the facts of your story are not in dispute. They are building blocks for why you are the way you are.

Now, the question is: Do you want to outgrow who you were conditioned to be or stay stuck there the rest of your life? If it’s the former, STOP TELLING YOUR STORY.

If you want to stay handcuffed to your past, continue justifying why you are the way you are.

If you’re looking to move on and attract new vistas, say, “hasta la vista” to your story. Yes, it’s an accurate, historical reference and needs to be told if you choose to share your personal history with someone. But if you use it as a justification as to why you are the way you are, your history will continue to repeat itself.

Legendary, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung gave us the prescription for outgrowing our past: Make the unconscious, conscious. What he specifically said was, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

Do you really want your life to change? Then, change your story.

All the best,

John

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I don’t think I’m revealing any top secret information by saying that all relationships end – some naturally, some amicably, most of them sadly.

Parting of the ways happens in too many ways to count, yet they happen every day. Someone, once near and dear to us, is either no longer on this earth or is no longer in our life.

The message here isn’t intended to engender doom and gloom or to focus on regret; it’s more of a wake up call to get us to pay attention – to the relationships we currently have.

I believe we take too many of our relationships for granted, and don’t offer them the attention they need to stay alive while we’re all still living.

I think of the Harry Chapin song “Cats in the Cradle” – the essence of which has him too busy to pay attention to his son. Life got in the way of him spending the time, and then the relationship just slipped away.

Our relationships need the investment of our time and attention. If we have them in “set and forget” mode, it won’t be too long before they’ll forget about us.

Is there someone in your life right now that needs more of your attention? Lean in and let them know, otherwise you may have to watch them go – away!

Make it your mission to let someone special know that they’re special, today.

All the best,

John

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I’m not much of gardener but I’m pretty sure if you plant in rich soil, you’ll reap more of a harvest.

Things grow better in nutrient-rich environments, yet we often plant where seeds won’t grow. And even if they do, it’s a weak crop.

But this isn’t about “Green-thumb-ery.” It’s about goal setting and goal achieving.

Consciously setting a goal is a starting point. It’s the seed. So, where and how do you plant that seed?

You “Plant it in Presence.” That means you take the seed into a calm state of mind where it can root and grow. Perhaps an explanation would be helpful.

Seeing as I’ve conducted hypnosis sessions for close to 40 years, I can tell you with confidence that the way most people are taught to do goal setting with self-hypnosis is highly ineffective.

This method has dreadful results. It suggests that you get yourself in a calm state of mind and then give yourself a suggestion. That’s putting the accent on the wrong syllable.

Here’s the rub: A suggestible state of mind is a quiet mind. The second you interrupt that quiet to consciously “plant” a suggestion, you come out of the prepared soil and return to the hardpan, where you’ll be hard-pressed to grow anything.

In short, talking to yourself takes you out of the high-yielding state of presence.

A more effective way of goal setting is to bring your goal to mind beforehand. Consciously picture it, sound it out, or feel it, and imagine that you have already received it. Then, you’re ready to do your relaxation practice that transports you to a calm, nutrient-rich state of mind.

After you consciously set your goal, make your only goal getting into a frame of mind that is fertile for the seed you’re bringing in. When you do it this way, you are taking the goal in with you, not trying to formulate it after you’ve arrived.

This may seem like a minor distinction but it can cause major disappointments when you set goals out of order. If you do so, the “crop” you get will be spelled with an “a.”

Do your goal setting consciously before you take yourself inward. Set it and forget it, then put all your focus on quieting your mind. This is a fruitful way to “Plant in Presence” and, in turn, produce a bumper crop.

All the best,

John

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