1. Welcome to Issue #175 (August 2007) of MIND CHATTER, the e-mail
newsletter of Centerpointe Research Institute:
http://www.centerpointe.com.

Mind Chatter is published once a month, on or about the 16th of each
month.

Please send Mind Chatter to a friend, and please send us your questions,
comments, and suggestions.

If this issue has been forwarded to you, and you'd like to subscribe to
Mind Chatter, visit http://www.centerpointe.com/newsletter.  To view
Mind Chatter archives, visit
http://www.centerpointe.com/newsletter/archives.php

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2. If you would like to unsubscribe, you can manage your account via the
link at the end of this newsletter. (But please don't. We like you and
we want you to stay.)

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3. In This Issue

// MindQuotes (scroll to #5)

// Announcements (scroll to item #6)

// Feature Article How You Decide What To Pay Attention To-And How What
You Pay Attention To Creates Your Life by Bill Harris, Director (scroll
to item #7)

// Readers' Voices (scroll to #8)

// Life Principles In Practice (scroll to #9)

// Coach's Corner (scroll to #10) Welcome to our new feature, where each
month a Centerpointe Support Coach shares their personal experiences
with books that have inspired them, life-changing coaching experiences,
and other information we're sure you'll find enlightening and enriching.
This month, we hope you'll enjoy:

Clear Your Day Of Procrastination and Make Room For Fun By Nancy Carlton

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4. MIND CHATTER contains articles about:

// How you create your life--and how you can stop unconsciously creating
experiences and outcomes you do not want, and instead begin to create
exactly what you do want

// Personal and spiritual growth in general

// Meditation (high--and low-tech)

// Recovery from emotional trauma

// Pretty much any other subject I get excited about and want to write
about. After all, it's my company and my newsletter,  and I can do
whatever I want with it. So there.

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5. Mind Quotes

The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf. -Shakti
Gawain

Do not fear mistakes...there are none. -Miles Davis

Like an ability or a muscle, hearing your inner wisdom is strengthened
by doing it. -Robbie Gass

The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their
signifigance to ourselves, they find their own order...the continuous
thread of revelation. -Eudora Welty



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6. THE LAZY MAN'S WAY TO MEDITATE Amazing, scientifically proven brain
technology gives you all the benefits of meditation, in a fraction of
the time, easily and effortlessly TRY IT YOURSELF, FREE!

“You told me I'd meditate like a Zen monk, literally at the touch of
a button, and it's true! This is like meditation on steroids!”
-Michelle S., Baltimore, MD

Did you know that people who meditate everyday are many times happier
than those don't? They're also healthier, and live longer. And,
their sense of well-being is much greater than that of non-meditators.
In fact, meditators are so much healthier that some insurance companies
charge lower premiums for meditators than for the rest of the general
population. Meditators' minds are also sharper, and their
problem-solving abilities are better. That's one reason why many
high-powered executives, and even CEOs of Fortune 500 companies,
meditate. Did you also know that meditators make a LOT more pleasurable
brain chemicals—the ones you feel on those days when you feel REALLY
good—and, they make these feel-good brain chemicals pretty much ALL
THE TIME? Did you know that meditators have dramatically better mental
health? They have less anxiety, anger, depression, and fear, and they
have better human relationships, more friends, and feel... ...much more
fulfilled in their lives?

So with all these benefits, why isn't everyone meditating?

You know why. To get these results, you have to meditate four or five
hours a day, often for decades, and few people are willing to do this.
And, meditation, especially at first, isn't much fun. The initial
experience is somewhere between boring and frustrating. Finally, it
takes quite a long time to notice any significant results, much less to
experience the benefits I just mentioned. But what if I told you that
you could meditate as deeply as a Zen monk, literally at the touch of a
button, and do it the very first time, and every time... ...and also
make all those happy brain chemicals the first time and every time? Not
only that, within a very short period of time—days or weeks instead of
years or decades—you could begin receiving all the benefits I just
mentioned—the physical health benefits, the mental health benefits,
the clarity-of-mind benefits, the relationship benefits, and... ...the
overall sense of well-being. And, you don't have to learn any complex
mental gymnastics, or spend hours a day to get all of this. Instead,
you'll be using a scientifically-proven audio technology called
Holosync®, that will easily and effortlessly place you in the
electrical brain wave patterns of deep meditation, every time. Over the
last 20 years, nearly 300,000 people in 173 countries have used Holosync
audio technology to dramatically improve their lives. You can, too.
It's easy, it's inexpensive, it feels VERY good... ...and it's
100% guaranteed. Skeptical? I don't blame you. I was too, until I
tried it for myself. And, that's what I suggest you do--try it. In
fact, I'd be happy to send you a FREE demo CD and a free Special
Report right now, so you can see what I'm talking about.

Just visit http://www.centerpointe.com/demo/ and I'll send it right
out to you.
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7. Feature Article

How You Decide What To Pay Attention To--And How What You Pay Attention
To Creates Your Life by Bill Harris

Last month we discussed the difference between operating your internal
processes (what I have called your Internal Map of Reality)
automatically and unconsciously, in which case you get whatever it was
pre-programmed to create, or consciously and intentionally, in which
case you can quite literally create anything you want in life. Your
Internal Map of Reality is really just a way of taking what comes in
through your senses and turning it into what you feel, how you behave,
and the people and situations you attract or become attracted to. There
are several steps in this process. In the simplest sense, you begin by
deciding what to pay attention to. Then, you decide how to pay attention
to it, in other words, how to represent to yourself internally whatever
you are paying attention to (i.e., how to think about it). These two
simple steps involve a number of rather complex sub-steps. Deciding what
to pay attention to involves choosing what you allow in through your
senses--a simple example being whether to watch television, read a
book, or watch the sunset. Next, of all the millions of bits of
information touchingyour senses in each moment, you have to decide which
to notice and which to delete and therefore not notice. This is no minor
decision (and, right now, if you're like most people, you're making
it unconsciously and automatically). The amount of information coming in
through your senses in each moment is enormous. You can pay attention,
in any moment, to only a tiny fraction of it, which means that you must
delete most of it. And because this onslaught of sensory information
keeps coming and coming and coming, you must make this decision over and
over, in every moment. To make this easier, your Internal Map of Reality
consists of certain automatic, pre-set ways of deciding what to let in
and what to delete. This method, as handy as it is, has certain
drawbacks. You decided how to decide what to pay attention to when you
were very young, before you had any real criteria for deciding how to do
it. To be truly effective as a human being, you're going to have to
take this process off of autopilot and learn to do it consciously and
intentionally. In each moment, and depending on the outcome you have in
mind, what is most resourceful to pay attention to changes. Consciously
deciding what to pay attention to and what to delete has huge
advantages. One automatic method of deciding what to pay attention to is
your beliefs. Beliefs are crystallized, pre-set ways of focusing
attention, and as such become self-fulfilling prophecies, in the sense
that we find ways to make whatever we believe come true in reality (or
at least seem to be true, which usually amounts to the same thing). When
you believe something, you delete whatever does not support the belief,
and keep the rest. Beliefs also strongly affect your ability to attract
or become attracted to people and situations that help confirm that what
you believe is, indeed, true. A wit once said, “If I hadn't believed
it, I wouldn't have seen it.” This bon mot actually describes how it
works. For instance, if you believe that in relationships men will be
untrustworthy and unreliable, you will notice, attract,and become 
attracted to menwhoare, indeed, unreliable. In a crowded room, your
attention will be automatically drawn to such men. At the same time,
you'll fail to notice, or fail to become attracted to, men who don't
fit this profile (another example of how we use unconscious cues to
attract certain people and situations). If you do encounter men who are
reliable in relationships, you won't be attracted to them, or you'll
interpret what they do as evidence of unreliability, even if that
isn't really true. If you believe it's difficult to make money,
you'll focus your attention in such a way that you'll attract or
become attracted to situations where it is, indeed, difficult to make
money. You'll also fail to notice situations where it might be easier
to make money. If you do notice a moneymaking opportunity, you'll
discount it, or act in a way that leads to failure  anyway--again,
confirming the "truth" of what you belief. Different beliefs cause
us to attract different people and situations, to behave in different
ways, and to create different outcomes--outcomes that demonstrate the
truth of what you already believe. Your goal, of course, is to operate
your Internal Map of Reality consciously and intentionally, adjusting
how you use it on the fly to fit each situation and the outcome you want
to create. This means choosing what to believe based on the outcome you
want. Since you will find a way to make anything you believe either come
true or seem to be true, choosing what to believe becomes a method for
creating what you want. Most people choose what to believe because
"it's true." In other words, they believe it because they have
"evidence." Once you have evidence and, based on that evidence,
believe something to be true, you will find ways to create more
evidence--which is why psychologists call it a self-fulfilling
prophecy. This means that you shouldn't decide what to believe based
on past evidence. Instead, you should decide what to believe based on
the outcome you have in mind. Now how do you do that? Doesn't that
mean you have to disregard "the evidence"--to pretend that what the
evidence tells you is true isn't true? Yes, you do, in a sense. How,
then, do you go against the evidence you currently have for what you
believe now, assuming that you want to change what you believe? First,
you understand that beliefs generate evidence, and evidence also
generates beliefs. If you decide to believe something that is more
resourceful, you will generate evidence that this new belief is true. In
fact, ALL beliefs are "true," in the sense that all beliefs generate
their own evidence. Next, you look around and realize that someone else,
somewhere, believes what you would like to believe. If so, it is
possible to believe it. So, borrow that other person's evidence until
you have your own. Believe "as if" the belief is true. If you do
think "as if" the belief is true, and act as if it is true, you will
generate the ideas, the motivation, the internal qualities,  and the
behavior, which will make it come true. You can choose what to believe,
based on what you want to create. When you change what you believe, you
change what you pay attention to and what you delete, and in doing so,
you change how you feel and behave, and what and whom you attract. A
second key aspect of your Internal Map of Reality is your values. Values
are simply what you think is important. When you think something is
important, you pay attention to it, and you spend time on it. Values,
then, are another filter that determines what you pay attention to (and,
therefore, what results you create). Values also have an additional and
more specialized role: they are the source of motivation. If something
is important to you, you pay attention to it, and you are motivated by
it. As with beliefs, you can choose what is important to you. Most
people make this choice when they are too small to have any criteria for
choosing. How do they choose, then? They choose based on pressures
applied by their parents. Parents have an agenda, sometimes positive and
sometimes not, for what should be important, and this becomes another
unconscious, automatic part of your Internal Map of Reality. You can,
however, choose what to value, and in doing so, take charge of your
life. In addition to beliefs and values, there is another collection of
filters we use to decide what to pay attention to and what to delete,
called metaprograms. Metaprograms are content-free (unlike beliefs or
values, each of which has content) in the sense that they can be applied
to any content. Let's look at a couple of the more important
metaprograms. The Direction Filter determines whether, when you look at
a given situation, you move toward what you want, or away from what you
don't want. If someone asks you why having a good job is important to
you (assuming that it is), you might say that having a good job creates
a good living and allows you to exercise your creativity. In this case,
you've described what you want to move toward--a good living, and
exercising your creativity. You might, though, use this filter in the
opposite way and say that without a good job you would struggle to make
ends meet, and you would feel bad spending forty hours a week doing
something you find uninteresting. In this case, you've described what
you want to move away from--not being able to make ends meet, and
spending your time on something that does not interest you. In both
cases, your intention might be the same, to have what you want. In the
first case you want to get it by moving toward it, while in the second
you want to get it by moving away from the opposite. These two ways of
focusing your mind, however, will create very different outcomes. To
move toward what you want, you have to focus on it. In most cases this
means picturing it internally or talking to yourself about it. As with
all focusing, this will create certain feelings and behaviors, and it
will cause you to attract or be attracted to the people or situations
that will help you make what you've focused on happen in reality. As
always, your mind figures out how to create what you focus on. When you
move away from what you don't want, something very similar happens,
but with an interesting twist. To move away from something you don't
want, you also have to focus on it. Unfortunately, your mind takes what
you focus on very literally. It assumes that you want whatever you focus
on. It doesn't register the negative and, as before, it gets busy
attracting or creating what you've focused on--even though you
don't want it. If, for instance, you are afraid that people don't
like you, you will find ways to attract people who don't like you. You
might become attracted to people who don't like anyone. You might act
in such a way that people don't like you. You might interpret what
people say and do in a way that makes it seem that they don't like
you, even if they do. You can see that automatically focusing on what
you don't want is not resourceful, yet many people do it. To be in
charge of what you create, you need to use this filter consciously. You
cannot allow it to operate unconsciously. A second metaprogram filter,
The Reason Filter, determines why you do whatever it is you are doing.
Do you do it because it's possible, or because you have to? Many
people unconsciously and automatically follow a set of rules or
"supposed-to's" they learned while growing up. These rules create
pre-programmed focusing and pre-programmed behavior. There are certain
benefits to this--rules act like shortcuts, allowing us to act in ways
that have worked in the past). However, no set of rules can cover all
possibilities, and what do you do when you can't find a rule that
works? And, many of the rules we carry with us from childhood are
nothing more than hand-me-down limitation from our parents. Rules and
"have-to's" filter out other possibilities, and if you filter out
the possibilities, you don't see them. If you don't see them, they
don't exist. If you focus on the possibilities in any given situation,
you may still end up with the same action the rules would have
generated, but you'll be doing it for a different reason, and you'll
have considered many possibilities that might generate a much more
resourceful outcome. But what about the shortcut advantage? Won't you
need to consider all the possibilities--which could be infinite--in
every situation? Relax. There is a part of you that can consider them
all, evaluate them, and choose the most resourceful, and do it in an
instant. It isn't your linear mind, though, which does everything one
step at a time, but rather another part of you that can handle an
unlimited number of variables all at once. (More about that in a
moment.) These (and about twenty more) metaprogram filters determine
what you pay attention to. You can either use them unconsciously, as you
probably are now, or you can master them and use them consciously and
intentionally. When these filters operate unconsciously and
automatically, you will create your life in a certain pre-set way. If
you operate them consciously and intentionally, you can create whatever
you want. It's that simple.

Mastering your Internal Map of Reality

This may all seem incredibly complex, and in a sense, it is. (In fact,
we've just scratched the surface of your Internal Map of Reality,
looking at just a few aspects of it.) You are fluent in your native
language, however, and even the simplest language is complex. Mastering
your Internal Map of Reality is like anything else--you start where you
are, you practice, and you make progress. Since this process is one of
discovering yourself, and how you create your experience of life, it's
a fascinating undertaking, with profoundly positive rewards. Mastering
your Internal Map of Reality is much the same process a jazz musician
uses to learn to improvise. The musician practices chords, scales, and
other pieces of musical vocabulary. He consciously thinks of these
things and how to arrange them while he practices. At some point,
however, his ability to play no longer requires conscious thought. He
relaxes his linear mind and turns his playing over to that part of his
mind I mentioned a moment ago, a part that knows how to utilize the
skills he has practiced. This other part of his mind can see all the
possible choices for what to play in each next moment, evaluate them,
choose the best one, and then play it--all in a fraction of a moment,
and without conscious thought. The musician must play this way. The
music happens much too quickly to allow him to think his way through it
with his linear mind. So, he plays with little or no linear thought, in
the same way you talk to others without considering grammar, syntax, or
even giving much thought to the content of what you say. Okay, so you
aren't a jazz musician. But you probably do know how to drive a car.
When you first learned to drive you had to think your way through each
move. "Time to stop. Where is the brake? When, exactly, do I step on
it, and how hard--in order to stop at the right place and the right
moment?" "Okay. Time to change lanes. I've got to look over my
shoulder, judge how much room I need, decide how fast to go, and when to
go, and then use the right amount of gas, breaking, and steering, all at
the exact right time." It was a lot of work because you had to do it
all with your conscious, linear mind. Now, though, you drive with little
if any conscious thought. To be a little bit Zen about it, when you
drive you're one with the car. How did you get that way? By
practicing, by driving until you developed the ability to evaluate all
the possibilities in each moment, choose the right one, and then do
it--all without consciously thinking about it. Just like the jazz
musician, you began by being unconsciously incompetent (you didn't
know how, and you didn't even know what you didn't know). Then, with
a little bit of practice, you became consciously incompetent (you began
to realize what you didn't know, and what you needed to work on).
Next, you became consciously competent (you could do it, but you had to
think your way through it). Finally, you became unconsciously competent
(you turned it over to a part of your unconscious mind that can evaluate
an infinite number of variable, instantly, decide what to do, and then
do it). The ability to move through these various stages, by the way, is
connected to the amount of neural real estate devoted to whatever it is
you are learning. Once you have practiced enough, the part of your brain
responsible for driving, or playing music--or consciously and
intentionally operating your Internal Map of Reality--takes over and
does its job. So you can learn to take charge of your Internal Map of
Reality. First, you learn the basics of how it works. Next, you notice
how you've been using it and what results your way of using it has
been creating. Then you play with each part and find out what it does,
and notice all the other choices you haven't been exercising. You play
with those and find out what they do. Eventually, the same mechanism
that allows you to drive a car while you eat, talk on the phone, change
the radio station, put on your makeup, and talk to your passengers, will
take over. You'll be just like the jazz musician who, after practicing
for many years, effortlessly generates beautiful music. The fact that
you may not know anyone with this kind of control over his or her mind
shouldn't keep you from believing that you can learn to do this. It
can be done (I've done it, and I have taught many others to do it).
All that's required is the desire to do so, and the persistence to
practice. The process is fascinating, and the rewards are huge. What
would you do if you really could be in charge of what you feel, how you
behave, and what people and situations you attract into your life? We
each have a choice. We can continue to automatically create whatever our
Internal Map of Reality has been pre-programmed to create, or we can
develop the awareness, and the flexibility, to intentionally and fluidly
change our Map of Reality, moment-by-moment, as needed, in order to
create whatever we want. You may not have realized, up to now, that this
choice existed, but it's a real choice. You can take the reins of your
mind, and in mastering your mind, you can master your life.
Centerpointe's Life Principles Integration Process (LPIP) is a
step-by-step method for mastering your Internal Map of Reality. To
experience a free preview lesson, just click here:

http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview



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8. Participant Letters I wanted to write and say thank you for creating
the Holosync program, which I've now been using for just over two
weeks. I'm aware that for a program that takes years to complete, it
might be considered early days to be writing so soon, but the effect on
my life in just the time I started using the Dive soundtrack, and now
Dive and Immersion for an hour, has been just amazing. I was sexually,
physically and emotionally abused as a child, grew up with depression
and anorexia so severe I was resuscitated at 20 years old. I was told
numerous times I would probably not make it through my 20s, have been
thrown out of therapy and told a number of times that I'm completely
"beyond hope." I managed to start eating normally a few years ago,
using my own willpower, and was gradually building my confidence. Then I
was raped last year and it seemed to set me back years. I've spent a
year in therapy, and then hypnotherapy, and realised that no matter how
much I worked at the programs I was on, something deep down inside was
terrified of change and I'd always end up back where I started.

Since I've started using the Holosync program I've found my
confidence building incredibly rapidly, I'm not worried by things that
would normally have me diving for cover, I'm starting to talk to
people more, and let my few friends get to know me on a deeper level.
I'm also gaining confidence in my writing, and feel I could actually
pursue my dream of getting my books published. Using the Sedona Method
alongside Holosync has really helped deal with any negative emotions
that come up, but by itself, the impact of Holosync is incredible. I'm
usually a cynic, and after trying everything and struggling, I'm
stunned that this has been so effective. Some of the material that comes
up is very deep and painful, but somehow it's easier to deal with as
well. I'm also incredibly impressed by the level of support and
information offered by the institute. I've just received my first
support letter and was very impressed by the materials it contained. I
love the Making Change Easy CD as well, and have enjoyed two other CDs
from that collection. I fully intend to join the Inner Circle and
complete this course, as it has been inspirational to me.

Thanks,

JB

I recently purchased Awakening Prologue, and have been extremely happy
with it so far. Today, I recieved a free copy of Bill's book as part
of your follow-up process. I just wanted to thank you for providing such
tremendous value. I've had your product for less than a week, and yet
I am already overwhelmed by your efforts to go out of your way to thank
me for my purchase.

I can't begin to tell you how refreshing it is in this day and age to
experience a company that actually OVER-delivers in terms of their
customer service. It makes me feel good about my decision to purchase
your product.

Warmth and blessings,

Gary

Hello Bill, there are no questions but just wanted to exchange a few
words and how I felt after today's lesson [referring to one of the
lessons in the Life Principles Integration Process online course.  For a
free preview lesson, click here:
http://www.centerpointe.com/life/preview].

Beautiful....

Every word you spoke today, rang in perfect harmony with my inner soul.
I feel, that at last, I am on the path that I have always wanted to be
on and have searched for, seeked all my life. And its only by being on
your course that I have reached it...

...During the mediation in today's lesson, few things that happened
that I just want to mention to you. Not just today, but even other times
whenever I stopped myself to ask, ‘What do I really want in life?',
I would start off but could never get further than 2-3 things and then
would automatically stop/halt, then tell myself ‘that not really'.
In fact, I don't ‘want' anything. What would really make me feel
complete would be feel ‘eternal peace' deep within, and be calm and
quiet/silence. And before today I used to think that something was wrong
with me that I don't have any ‘wants' like other people or any
ambitions. In life, there are things I would like to achieve but the
thought of having achieved them, attaining life's goal did not instill
any sense of ‘achievement inside me' nor did it make me think that I
would be a different person for having achieved them or accomplished
something. Today I can truly understand those feelings and know inside
that I was moving towards the right direction and should have paid more
attention to this inner longing or inner direction, which I had been
ignoring because I didn't understand. Also there is no one I could
have shared these feelings with for the fear of being called ‘crazy'
or ‘abnormal' in some way.

And yes, its been a mind blowing lesson for me but I feel one with the
concept and have been blown in the ‘right' direction. After today, I
will find it much easier to let go of my past, almost as a whole (the
big chunk). I already do in fact, and feel that I am starting to see the
‘light' of truth, the reality. As I am this ‘form', I feel that
I can do anything, go anywhere, and never be afraid of anything because
there is nothing to be afraid of and no where to go, just like you said.
So I am going to work on being this true state, ALL THE TIME. Of course
I know it won't happen overnight but then again it just could, but I
know what will get me through when I have lost the focus and will soon
be living the ‘life' as my true self, being one with everything.

I am finally free.

Thanks for showing me the path, I would not have gotten here without
your help.

Kind Regards, Naini


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9. Life Principles In Practice

Follow the yellow brick road... No matter what you want, there is a
price to pay to get it. Right now, you have a certain way of thinking
and acting, and it is giving you the results you're getting right now.
If there are different results you'd rather be getting, you're going to
have to figure out what way of thinking and acting will lead to those
results. Luckily, this is pretty easy. Then, however, you're going to
have to change the way you think and act in order to actually get the
results, and this is where a lot of people have trouble. For some
strange reason, people are often afraid to change the way they think and
act and, as a result, they stay the same and continue to get the same
results.

Magical thinking won't cut it. You can say all the
prayers and affirmations in the universe, and do all the visualizations
you want about being rich--or anything else, for that matter--and no
dump truck is going to unload gold coins onto your driveway, and no
checks are going to magically arrive in the mail. Magical riches aren't
going to come to you, unless by pure coincidence. If this stuff worked,
the New Agers would be the richest folks in the world. Instead, they
generally have more money problems that most people. The value of
the thinking part of the thinking and acting formula, the part where you
focus your mind on what you want, is that it motivates you to take
action, it makes your mind clear enough and powerful enough to figure
out what to do, and it causes you to notice and take advantage of
opportunities that will help you get what you want. Please, stop
believing in magic. There is only one way to get what you want, and that
is to take action. The thinking is to help get you to take action in the
first place, to know what action to take, and to know how to evaluate
the results of your actions and keep going. 
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10. Coach's Corner

Clear Your Day of Procrastination and Make Room for Fun By Nancy Carlton

Nancy has been an integral part of the Centerpointe Support Staff for
over 7 years.  She has used her unique and insightful coaching
techniques to help thousands of  people on their paths to personal
growth and development.

Each time fall rolls around I tend to feel like it's time to start
anew. Part of it may be because I was born in the fall but mostly I
think it's programming from years of acquiescing to a school schedule
– new classes, new clothes, new teachers, new friends, and cooler
weather. With all the added tasks that can come with the change in
seasons, I thought this would be a good time for me to talk about
procrastination. Let me say that I'm as guilty as anyone of falling
into the familiar hole of anger, frustration and self-hatred associated
with this state. But I want to share some tools I've learned to move
me out of it more quickly and to create a momentum that helps me get
things accomplished. And sometimes I even find myself having some fun.
Here are some of the signs and symptoms of this little beast: You wake
up in the morning and all those things you have to do come rushing into
your conscious mind too rapidly to focus on even one or two of them. You
become immediately exhausted and want to go back to sleep. You feel
heavy. Your chest area feels like someone's put a 50-pound block on
it. All your thoughts center around how you don't want to get out of
bed and face the day. You may be sick to your stomach or feel a headache
developing. You've started out feeling worn down, exhausted and
unhappy. Even still, you manage to get up and go through the day
dragging yourself around, drawn to the couch, TV, computer, or bed. You
retain this sense that you are weighed down by an extra 50 pounds. You
have no energy to engage in your tasks with any pleasure. You fail to
enjoy much of anything, and your time is spent mentally pushing your
to-do list off a cliff. Or maybe this sounds more familiar... You wake
up in the morning and your mind is immediately set to fast forward. You
jump out of bed already feeling anxious and stressed as your mind
continues to race ahead, jumping all over the place, unable to focus on
anything. You start to do one thing but get distracted by something
else. You do a little of this and a little of that while feeling there
are invisible hands pushing you forward. You trip on things, run into
things, don't notice when someone is speaking to you, and generally
race your motor. By the end of your day, you're exhausted from your
busy day, but realize you haven't even begun the list of things you
really need to get done. And, you hate yourself. On top of having a
miserable day, week, or month, and feeling like you really haven't
accomplished anything, you top it all off with recriminations. Suddenly
you are bad, stupid, lazy, worthless, hopeless, helpless (you can add
whatever negative adjective is your favorite). Does this sound familiar?
We've all been there. Taxes HAVE to be paid on a certain date. That
appointment HAS to be made. The car HAS to go into the shop. So we wait
until we feel so pushed against the wall, until there's the threat of
something really punitive hanging over our heads, before we tackle the
things that absolutely have to be done. And even then we don't feel
any better. All of the above is another form of what is called
"overwhelm." So, how do we get off this track and start feeling good
about life? Let me see if I can help you gently slide into
accomplishment mode with a minimum of pain, anger, irritation, etc.
First let's talk about intention. We get hooked by our feelings first
thing in the morning, thinking our bad feelings will somehow motivate us
into getting our tasks accomplished. While you can do it that way, I can
tell you it doesn't lead to a whole lot of happiness. This option
always leaves one a bit angry, and feeling as if there's never enough
time. Since fun and peace of mind are the goals here, let's try
something new. For the next couple of days become aware of your thoughts
as you wake up in the morning. If you have some or all of the above
feelings and thoughts, stop yourself and create an intention for how you
want to feel in the next few hours. Put a sign up in a prominent place
reminding yourself to ask:

"How do I want to feel this morning, today, this week?"

That's all you have to do right now. Then give yourself a few moments
to really focus on the answer to this question. If you need help, take
some time to remember when you did feel good and bring that feeling
back. Sit with it. Focus on the good feeling you want to have. Make a
statement about how you want to feel out loud! Sing it out! Sing and
dance it out! Do whatever you need to help you change your thoughts to
reflect how you want to feel. When you catch your mind wandering again
into thoughts of how you aren't a good, smart, or accomplished person
because you're not doing this or that, just bring the question back to
your mind. If it helps, write it down. But you can also do this while
you're brushing your teeth or making the coffee. You don't have to
stop the progression of your day to focus on the answer to this one
simple, yet powerful, question. Now, there might be a tendency toward
all or nothing thinking at this point. Instead of thinking about how you
want to feel for the rest of your life, or for the next month, focus on
the next few hours only. Simply focus on the next few hours and how you
want to feel for that period of time. After that time is up, you can
again ask yourself the question. This avoids further overwhelm. This
might only last for those few hours, but then again you might check in
at the end of the day and find that you still feel good, or motivated,
or capable (or however you wanted to feel). When you've mastered this
small step, then you can make your list of the 10 things you want to get
accomplished or need to get accomplished. List making is powerful and
also helps you to feel, simply by writing out the list, that you've
taken a step. It's also VERY satisfying to complete one of the tasks
on the list and be able to check it off. Sometimes as I go about my day
I will accomplish something that isn't on my list and I'll put it on
after the fact just so I can feel the satisfaction of crossing it off.
Silly, I know, but I will do whatever I can to get that  good feeling
"rush." I'm working toward the day when the "rush" is a
permanent, ongoing, moment by moment experience. Now, look at your list
of 10 things and number them in order of importance (if you want to).
This is not a necessary step. You could also number them in order of
what would be the most fun to accomplish or the most fun to actually do.
Whatever you choose to make a priority is up to you. The whole point
here is to get you started. Okay, are you ready to get these little
nuisances into action, out of your head and behind you? Ready to take
the plunge? Select the first three and then take one of those three and
ask yourself...you guessed it...

"How do I want to feel as I'm accomplishing this task?" Remember
that good feeling you conjured up in the morning when you asked how you
wanted to feel today? Bring that feeling back and apply it to this first
task on your list. Simply ask the question and then let your unconscious
mind come up with some answers. Meanwhile, go about your morning. Make
yourself a cup of coffee or call a friend while you allow this feeling
and this action to commingle in your unconscious mind. The goal is not
only to accomplish what you need to do, but also to enjoy yourself while
you're doing it. What a concept!!! The unconscious mind is a great
worker. It will come up with some way to put this feeling and this task
together. Keep checking in with yourself to see if the time is right.
All this mental activity may cause you to say, "The hell with it.
I'm just going to get started and get it done." Or you may just
decide you're feeling good enough to go ahead with it because it's
easier than continuing to think about it. Go with it. Get that little
phone call made. So now you've accomplished the task. Wow! Great! You
get to cross it off your list! Notice that little rush you experience!
Go with it and look at the second thing on your list. Now I realize this
may be several hours later or it may be several days later depending on
the original task. If it takes more than a couple of hours you may have
to remind yourself about how you want to feel. In other words, you may
need to renew the feeling you started in the morning when you first woke
up and asked yourself how you wanted to feel for the next few hours.
Keep this process up. Keep asking the question and keep answering the
question. This will help you move into that space of focusing on what
you want and not on any bad feelings that may pop up. As you look at
your second task repeat the mental process above. Some of you will
transition smoothly from task to task, having built up momentum from the
energy rush of accomplishing the first job. Others may have to go
through several things on their list before they feel the momentum
moving them forward effortlessly. A lot depends on your general
emotional state when you begin, the tasks you have chosen, the immediacy
of the tasks, or the length of time for the tasks. The key here is to
get that momentum building. Once you do that it becomes easier and
easier to accomplish anything. Notice your self-talk. If you find
yourself saying you can't do something go back and ask yourself how
you want to feel and reaffirm that you will know how to accomplish a
task. You just ask for the correct information to come to you and then
go about doing something else. Bill talks a lot about asking questions
of yourself and then allowing the unconscious mind to direct you to the
answers. Sometimes it's a matter of allowing all the information you
have in your mind to rearrange in a new way generated by the question,
and the answer will come to you. Sometimes you'll be directed to a
resource outside of yourself. Whatever it is, if you focus on the end
result you want and know the answers will come, they will show up. Using
the above method, you will not only complete many of your more dreaded
tasks, but you'll also have much more fun with all the energy you have
left over for your life. After all, isn't that what life is all about?
Playing? As you shift your feelings from ‘what is' to what you want
to feel you may find everything is play, even paying taxes!

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