Here is the recorded version of the Grasshopper Note for the week of 03-29-21.

Read the written version here.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

I was watching a biopic of comedian Robin Williams and I heard him say, “If you don’t interfere with yourself, you’re quite interesting.”

He was referring to the acting profession and how valuable it is to be authentically you, rather than putting on airs and spitting out lines that you just chewed.

His quote speaks volumes about how we interfere with our innate greatness, no matter what our station in life. We run interference for and justify our false self – the part of us that we made up and got comfortable with. That’s the facade we want the whole world to see.

There’s who we are and who we think we are. Who we think we are is the made up version. This is the part of us that tells us we have to be a certain way in order to win the day. Sadly, that advice keeps us in our own way. It interferes with our creative self, blocking it from coming through.

How great can you be? Get out of your own way and let yourself and the whole world see just how interesting you can be.

All the best,

John

Listen to the recorded version.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

Here is the recorded version of the Grasshopper Note for the week of 03-22-21.

Read the written version here.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

Oprah Winfrey is famous for asking people, “What do you know for sure?” I suspect that a lot of us claim to know something for sure, but we really don’t. That’s because we fail to own it.

Too often, we rent what we attest to know for sure. I don’t believe you can truly know something until you take ownership of it. That means acting on what you know, not just spouting out personally unverified advice.

Here’s a question worth asking yourself: “What do I know that I don’t own?”

The answers you get will lead you to the area of you life that needs less description and more conviction, namely action.

What pearls of wisdom are you famous for parcelling out to others but they keep you sitting on your butt when it comes to you? That’s renting, not owning what you know.

If you really want to know for sure, take the necessary action and go get the deed. Then you you can tell Oprah, with confidence, that you’re sure of what you know.

All the best,

John

Listen to the recorded version.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

Got a grudge that won’t budge? Give this technique a go. It’s one I wrote about a few years ago and it felt like it needed a revisit.

The Grasshopper woke me up with this: “All your grudges die when you do.”

Wow! No more grudges! “But do I have to die for them to die?” was my question.

The answer is “yes” and “no.”

Yes, the energy has to leave our body to die but, no, we don’t have to physically die for the energy to leave a grudge.

Letting a grudge lose its energy will take more than a declaration on your part, but it’s a start. Recognizing that a grudge zaps more energy from you than does digesting Thanksgiving dinner is reason enough to craft a plan for its demise.

Recognizing that your grudge is hurting you more than whomever you’re holding it against is helpful in getting you started on the process. You gain extra credit if you notice that the grudge you’re holding is against someone who’s already dead. When that becomes “laugh out loud funny” to you, you know your grudge is at death’s door.

I don’t have a step-by-step method to offer but I do have one exercise that’s worth practicing. I call it a “Grudge Match.”

You can physically do this exercise or just do it in your imagination. It will have an effect either way.

Write down your grudge on a small piece of paper or draw a picture or symbol that represents your grudge. Next, go to a nearby sink and set fire to the paper and watch what was burning you up, burn up. If you’re afraid of setting the house on fire, do it in your imagination. Again, either way has an effect.

The flames represent the energy necessary to keep the grudge alive. As you watch them die out, your grudge begins to move to the great beyond.

You can be lectured from here to eternity about the sinfulness and ill effects of grudges but that hasn’t worked on you so far, so I offer one little match that has more burning power than Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.

You’ll probably have to do this exercise more than once to get a lasting effect but the results are to die for.

All the best,

John

Listen to the recorded version.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

Here is the recorded version of the Grasshopper Note for the week of 03-15-21.

Read the written version here.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

The Grasshopper asked this question a few moons ago: “Is Your Toner Running Low?”

Anyone who’s operated a copy machine can attest to being there when the toner cartridge was low. Their prints were not as sharp and defined as they were with the proper amount of toner.

Is the toner in your life in low supply? I know mine has been at times. I call it the “nobody loves me” mode. My passion (toner) is at a low ebb and nothing seems to be in crisp, clear focus. Life is hard to read.

Even things that have brought me joy in the past fade in passion when my toner runs low. Low passion is a warning sign that you’re about to run out of toner. And if that happens, life just fades away.

It’s valuable to notice when you’re at a low point. It’s the noticing that gives you the opportunity to do something about it. Not noticing makes it seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy that you have a date with destiny.

Let’s take a look at my low point warning: “Nobody loves me.” That is my red flag to start to take notice of all the examples to the contrary. Even if I can’t seem to find any, I’m still left with the option of “I love me.”

When you find a counter-example to your assertion, it opens the door to possibility. When the possibility door is open, creativity is not too far behind. Creativity is passion by another name.

Passion resurfaces when possibilities are explored.

If you’ve slipped into the gray area of life where passion seems absent, take the time to consider possibilities. “What if?” questions are a great start. Start to explore possibilities even if they seem remotely possible. Think of the Norman Vincent Peale quote: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

If you notice your passion is running low, the remedy is to explore possibilities. When you consider what’s possible, the engine of creativity is engaged. When that happens, a clear print is not far behind.

All the best,

John

Listen to the recorded version.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

What gets you out of bed every morning? What is the impetus for putting your feet on the floor?

Aside from having to pee, what drives you to get up and go?

Is it to survive or is it to thrive?

Survival is a great skill to have. It helps keep you alive until you find what makes you thrive.

You may say you have no goal but you really do. You just may not have identified it yet.

Survive or thrive is a great place to start. Wonder why you continue to survive and you’ll get a glimpse of what makes you thrive.

The book of Ecclesiastes lets us know there is a time to reap and a time to sow. And some old Greek philosopher told us to live to fight another day. Both are prescriptions to survive until it’s time for us to thrive.

I’ve had some people ask me why I exercise on a regular basis. My pat answer comes from my Navy days. I say, I’m attempting to stay “topside.” That attitude helps me survive and gives me the energy when it’s my time to thrive.

Answer the question: “What gets me out of bed every morning?” and you’ll find your motivation for living. Once you’ve identified it, make it your mission to survive until you thrive. Adopting this mindset is the magic elixir that keeps you feeling alive.

All the best,

John

Listen to the recorded version.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

Here is the recorded version of the Grasshopper Note for the week of 03-08-21.

Read the written version here.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.

Anger is certainly an emotion filled with blood boiling sensations, but at its simplest level, it’s a conditioned reaction.

I’m guessing we’ve all felt anger. It’s a subset of fear which comes with the human software package. And I’m sure you’ll agree that some folks are more angry than others.

There is a price to pay for being angry more often than the average bear. It takes a physical toll on you. Angry people manifest constricting diseases and conditions more often than others: arthritis, angina, high blood pressure, to name a few.

The problem angry people have is they think their anger is caused by someone or something else. It’s not the other causing our distress; it’s us reacting in a conditioned way to a set of circumstances. We’ve learned to be angry.

There are some therapies that recommend that you get your anger out of you by striking at or yelling into an inanimate object like a pillow. I’ll leave it to your imagination how long-term effective that approach is. In short, it isn’t.

The remedy that works much better is recognizing anger within you and not assigning it a cause. Just acknowledge your feelings of anger to yourself. “I have anger within me” is, as we use to say in radio, the phrase that pays. Then after recognizing and acknowledging that you have anger within you, sit with the feeling. Just notice what the sensation feels like in your body. In doing so, you will feel what you call anger begin to wane. It dilutes itself until it’s no longer felt.

The worse thing you can do is to ascribe anger to an outside cause. That keeps it at arm’s length and you won’t be able to wrap your arms around it and feel your way through it.

All reactions can be outgrown. First you have to recognize that you’re having one and then interrupt it by taking some action to dilute, not justify, it.

It’s your anger. Own it by acknowledging and feeling it. Each time you do this, you weaken the conditioned link and outgrow your constrictions and start feeling “in the pink.”

All the best,

John

Listen to the recorded version.

Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.