A Blog Post Crammed With Lots To Challenge Your Thinking
I haven’t done quite as much writing within the last few weeks as I’d like but, believe me when I say, I am never short of ideas. π When I don’t act on a flash of inspiration or the spark of an idea immediately I find I lose the buzz of it very quickly. Anytime you have a flash, act on it quickly. To not do so is denying your deepest inner guidance and voice which is showing you truly who you are and what you desire.
I’ve also had an abundance of ideas and haven’t been able to get them all down on the blog as yet so I was thinking why not try something a bit different? This post is 7 articles in 1. (A worlds first maybe? :-P) With that in mind this post so easily could’ve become 5 – 10,000 words and so it was a challenge to keep this all within 2000. I guarantee though that this post will have something for everyone and will challenge the way you think about certain things. So, scan the headlines, find a topic you like, and peruse!
1. Unleash Your Uncommon Sense
I was scanning the news recently and came across and article whereby the police gave a ticket to a man for blowing his nose whilst his car was stationary in traffic. In the UK you can given a ticket over something like that under the charge of driving without due care and attention.
We had this debate on my show and it wasn’t the only story of its kind. I asked myself if common sense had been lost. What is common sense? If the actions of today’s society is anything to go by then maybe what is needed is not common sense, but uncommon sense!
Following the norms of society and what we’re told is not working and we need new paradigms in thought. Maybe the status needs the quo taken out of it! I’m not talking about anarchy. I’m talking about challenging conventional thinking. If something doesn’t work, change the approach. That’s not a hard philosophy to adopt. Shift your thinking and ask yourself if your actions are just because that’s the norm or because you’ve done it with conscious elevated values in mind?
We are a great species, a wonderful race, and it’s about time we started thinking that way.
2. How To Let Go Of People
People will come and go in your life. That’s a fact. Sometimes you will outgrow people and people will outgrow you. It’s nothing to be afraid of. This is just part of the journey of life. When some people go, others will arrive and fill a different area of your life. I still maintain that we are all connected and an extension of one another.
Learn to let people go gracefully. Understand when a relationship is no longer serving you. Some will see that as running away from something, some will see it as moving away from something that wasn’t good for you in the first place. No one can decide that for you. It’s a decision you must come to alone through your belief about the situation. Are you fixated on whether your belief is right or wrong? It’s neither; it’s just down to how you choose to perceive it.
3. How The Media Try And Sway You And How To Become Immune
Take a close look at the two following news articles:
1. Happiness wards off heart disease, study suggests
2. Be lucky – it’s an easy skill to learn
There’s a distinct difference between the two. The first is reported news on a study. The article is given the spin it needs to attract attention. That’s ok, we writers do that; we would be fools not to. The problem is that there are so many of those articles that very often they contradict each other. As an example, on a regular basis you will see contradictory articles with regards to alcohol, some say it will benefit certain things, others will say it is bad for such and such.
You have to come to your own conclusions on such things. Research can only guide us so far and as the title clearly says it is only suggesting the idea; remember that! Don’t take that knowledge at face value. It is only an indicator. With the specific article I’ve referred to, It’s doesn’t take a genius to realise that happiness helps the health overall. Saying happiness does anything otherwise would just be totally stupid.
So long as it’s genuine happiness and nothing forced I think it’s pretty safe to say that your health with benefit. Maybe we can chalk that one down to common sense! π I actually laughed out loud when I read the part that said: “They could not categorically prove happiness was protective, but said people should try to enjoy themselves.” – Well duh!
The second article is a firsthand account of research and is pretty fascinating. It’s still not absolutely conclusive and should not be taken as gospel but the experiments are clever and gave a very clear indication that you can make your own luck with a simple shift in thinking. It’s a clear and definitive message to those who truly believe that they have bad luck that they can change it.
Do you see the clear difference between the two? The media often try and sway the opinons of the masses through such spin. See through it, don’t just be one of the masses.
4. Great Minds DON’T Think Alike
I’ve never liked the saying that great minds think alike. They think alike in the sense that they all follow a specific pattern to attain success. They don’t actually think alike though, they think very differently; hence their greatness.
They look at what is and ask ‘what if?’. They look at what isn’t and ask ‘why not?.
To be a great mind all you have to do is look around you, find out what the world needs, look at what inspires you and then find how you can bring those two universes together. What unique talent can you bring to the world? Your talent may be similar to others, but I promise you it is unique.
5. How To Be Frugal With Your Communications
I did a communications sabbatical last year and have since trimmed down on the amount I communicate with people. I have now totally stopped using IM’s like MSN, Google Chat, Facebook Chat and Blackberry Messenger because I found them to be a huge distraction. It’s wonderful that we have so many options through which to communicate but there’s a side of me that wants to communicate less.
People got offended when I stopped keeping in touch as much and it wasn’t anything personal. It was just a personal choice I made. We often pressure ourselves so much to be good friends and always satisfy the needs of others. Keep in touch, but not at the detriment to your own wellbeing.
With so many forms of communication it’s very easy to become a little bit overwhelmed. Choose your methods of communication wisely. I know of people who only use Facebook to keep in touch with very close friends. Others completely stopped using it and I was considering closing my account today. I realised I don’t really need it. As far as I’m concerned this blog, twitter and my phone are more than enough.
I don’t have the opportunity to miss people anymore.
I like it when I don’t speak to people in a while because when I do we have so much to talk about. Regular communication has its benefits too in that you can go incredibly deep and get to know people on a very intimate level.
I do keep in regular contact with my close friends and it’s is ironic because, when we don’t speak for long periods, it feels like no time has passed at all and we pick up from where we left off. There are no questions about why it’s been so long. We don’t make each feel guilty about the fact that it has been a while.
6. How To Fully Immerse Yourself In Your Comfort Zone
There are two types of comfort zone:
1. Being in a situation and feeling so comfortable that you take no risk even though you desire change.
2. Entering a new situation and feeling comfortable because you understand how to be your true self.
The latter is the one I want to talk about. Have you ever been in a situation where you were so comfortable that you felt totally at ease? You were surrounded by strangers and yet you felt like you could totally be yourself without feeling the need for any kind of pretence. You might possibly have felt that way when you were surrounded with close friends and family, and as a result, you personality sparkled. Would it not be awesome if you could replicate that amongst strangers?
You can! There are many techniques to do so. Anchoring is a great one to begin with. Next time you feel that comfort, Anchor it. The next is to simply practise. Put yourself in that situation often. Get comfortable with strangers. With practise you will arrive at that place naturally. Those are the two main ones, if you want more, just ask!
7. Understanding The Nature Of Trade Off’s
In this day and age everyone is directing their consciousness towards being environmentally conscious. What most people don’t realise that no matter what path they take there is still a cost. So you are saving resources by recycling, but the recycling process is creating waste and using additional energy. We may drive more environmentally friendly cars but those cars require many resources to build in the form of increased energy and materials.
I’m not saying that we don’t have to care for our planet, what I am saying is that you may think you’re doing good but the truth is that there is so much more to be done. If we are going to make a truly global change then we need to think on a much larger scale and think much further into the future.
I remember seeing an episode of Star Trek TNG when the crew realised that using warp drive was causing tears in the fabric of space-time. It was a great episode and it was a reflection of what we’re doing now, but on a universal scale.
So whatever you do, be aware that it isn’t the solution you think it might be. Understand the costs and start thinking about what else can be done. How can we as humans take a different stance or different approach to make sure we look after this small home of ours?
—
I know I’ve encompassed a lot in this blog post but I sometimes feel like if I don’t get this stuff out it will go to waste. I would love to hear your thoughts on all the topics I’ve written about today; what do you think?
Photo by Masood1226
P.S. Imagine being a passenger on that train! π―
Amit, I knew about anchoring for awhile now but I never thought of anchoring the feeling of comfort and being your True Self. That’s brilliant! The last article resonated with me greatly too, I just wrote my little plug for saving the planet on my blog. We do need to do something on a larger scale. Thanks for a great read and lots of food for thought!
That’s great Lana and I’ll definitely check that out. Anchoring can be very powerful and can be used in so many different ways…have a play and see what other uses for it you come up with! π
Amit, phew!
I was going to write 7 separate comments but then sanity prevailed:-)
So I am going to write you an “article” as a comment…
I especially resonated with your point 2 about letting go of people. It is one of the hardest things I have had to learn in my life.
Being very much a people person, I connect very quickly and deeply with people – and though this is a wonderful gift, it can become overwhelming to have so many people in one’s life.
So over the last few years, I have had to learn to let go – and as you say let go gracefully. Sometimes, friendships will just die of their own accord with time and as people literally move on.
However sometimes we might be tempted to keep a friendship going, but it is usually futile to try and do so. You will know when it’s time to move on. And you will be doing both yourself and the other person a favour by moving on.
That space can then be filled for both of you with people who are more appropriate for your life now.
I remember reading in “A Return to Love” by Marianne Williamson, when she first got back her power and put her own feelings and needs first in a one-sided relationship. She felt that the heavens were literally simling down on her as they acknowledged her basking in self-love for the first time.
The point is that by letting go of people, you are actually doing yuorself a favour and being kind and self-loving.
Amit, I guess that’s about the length of one article, so I shall stop there:-)
.-= New at Arvind Devalia’s blog ..How to be an Infectious Lover of Life and not Feel Guilty =-.
I have still yet to read that book but one day I will certainly pick it up and have a read. I may be spending a good few hours at the airport his weekend so I’ll may even speed read it this weekend.
I’m in the same boat as you Arvind. It truly isn’t easy to let go of people sometimes and yet it can be a powerful and liberating experience to do so. I said this to someone else recent: have you ever read ‘The Yes Man’?
It’s an awesome book, in it the author says – Sometimes saying no can be saying yes to yourself. – it’s all about how you perceive it.
Thanks Arvind π
Amit, do get that book soon. Though you may speed read it, it is one of those books you will want to come back to again and again.
Do absorb it and take your time over each chapter. It is very profound.
Also, Marianne visits London a couple of times every year and I highly recommend going to one of her talks.
.-= New at Arvind Devalia’s blog ..How to be an Infectious Lover of Life and not Feel Guilty =-.
I’ll keep an eye out for her talks but if you spot it before me let me know! π
Amit,
A great posts π
I have a lot to say about everything but i will limit myself to topic number 3. I absolutely agree with you! I have said it before, one of the greatest challenges of life is this : “What do you do when what your experience differs from what the ‘experts’ say?”
I remember reading an article by Steve Pavlina entiteld “Trust yourself, not the experts”. He had some beautiful insights:
“DonΓ’β¬β’t worry so much about what the so-called experts say. Decades from now their advice will probably be proven wrong anyway. Study yourself as an individual, and use expert advice only as a general guide for new experiments of your own. Notice what works for you and what doesnΓ’β¬β’t. Trust your senses. If the experts say one thing, but your personal experience suggests the opposite, put more faith in your own experience. That will take you much farther down the road of personal developmentΓ’β¬Β¦”
For me, those pretty much sums up what i think about the issue. Thanks for a great read.
.-= New at Christopher Kabamba’s blog ..A Guide to my idea of Conscious Parenting =-.
Hey Chris, I remember reading that very same article and I remember writing something very similar at the same time as he published his post. There is so much conflicting research and so sometimes it’s better to rely on your own ‘uncommon’ sense to decide what to do. You can even experiement to see what works for you. For me, I know I suffer if I don’t drink enough water and my body lets me know. I know some people who hardly drink any and they’re also fine and the yet the experts say we have to drink 2l’s a day? I believe your body will tell you how much you need.
Amit,
Interesting stuff happening; just after my innitial comment on this post (In which i quoted from a Steve Pavlina article) i checked my mailbox just to find a new Steve Pavlina Newsletter … and guess what the last few sentences say:
“Don’t rely so much on experts, including me. Look at the real truth of your specific situation. See what the data is telling you”
π
.-= New at Christopher Kabamba’s blog ..A Guide to my idea of Conscious Parenting =-.
Amit,
Moments after making my innitial comment (in which i quoted Steve Pavlina), i checked my mail just to find a new Steve Pavlina Newsletter. Here are the last few words:
“Don’t rely so much on experts, including me. Look at the real truth of your specific situation. See what the data is telling you”
π
.-= New at Christopher Kabamba’s blog ..A Guide to my idea of Conscious Parenting =-.
Wow, A double Synchronicity, I believe that’s the first time I’ve been in one of those! π Maybe I should’ve included synchronicity as one of my topics too!
” Think outside of the box, of the box, of the self imposed box” Love it!!!!! π
You can even squish the box totally squishy!
Hi Amit,
Good for you for putting all that you wanted in one post. I am a fan of thinking outside of the box. Actually…I don’t believe in the box in the first place. So this post rocked!
Two points really resonated with me at this moment. The first one about how not all great minds think alike. That was just perfect and so true. As is learning to let go of some people. The way I see it, not everyone is meant to be a part of lives forever and that is cool. Life is like a river…we just have to go with the flow. π
.-= New at Nadia – Happy Lotus’s blog ..Γ’β¬ΕHere Comes the SunΓ’β¬Β Γ’β¬β The Re-Invention Begins =-.
Thank you Nadia! You touched up something which is quite interesting actually, should we just go with the flow or should we get the oars out and choose where to go? Hmmmmm…
Amit,
You covered a lot of ground in this one…..like it!
Uncommon sense is what I’m all about. Not straying from the herd for the sake of it, but because my intuition knows better than my logic.
It takes more thought and in some cases very little thought and a great deal of listening to hone your uncommon sense, but receiving uncommon results is worth it.
.-= New at Ryan’s blog ..What Does A Cash Gifting Club Offer You? =-.
I love that Ryan – receiving uncommon results is a great line! You should use that in one of your future articles! π
Amit, you are a breath of fresh air! My favorite mini-post here is the part about Great Minds Don’t Think Alike. While thinking alike is an effective bonding vehicle, it’s Not Thinking Alike that leads to brilliant creativity and innovative inventions.
I do want to add that if we can think alike, so too can we think unalike, and therefore have the facility that we refer to as a Great Mind.
Wonderful distinction there Belinda, I was trying to find a better way of putting it and you summed it up perfectly! Thank you! π
Great concept. Liked all the points.
I have always believed in point 7.
What ever you do, there is a price you must pay.
.-= New at aDeeb’s blog ..Bangladesh Cricket: Tour of New Zealand 2010 =-.
Thank you aDeeb, there is always a cost and that is something to be truly understood.
Hi Amit,
I always see comfort zone as “being in a situation and feeling so comfortable that you take no risk even though you desire change.”
I frequently feel extremely powerless to over come this struggle to live out of comfort zone because I keep comin back to my old self. I have resistance not wanting to get out from it !
You open my eyes completely by this new way of seeing comfort zone as “Entering a new situation and feeling comfortable because you understand how to be your true self.” You give me an awesome idea on how to expanding my comfort zone with ease and I am going to try this out from now on !
Tons of appreciation,
Jen
I love tip # 6:
Jen, it truly is wonderful that you’ve found some inspiration in number 6. Feel free to share you ideas here too so that other people may learn from them who may have also been struggling too.
Whatever your spark of inspiration I truly hope it works for you and that you unlock that side of you that shines naturally! Good luck Jen!
Hi Amit,
What’s up? It’s been a great while since we last talked.
I especially liked your “great minds don’t think alike” part, because exactly that’s what makes them great: they don’t think alike. Whenever many people start to think the same way, it’s no longer great, it’s becoming just commonplace. That goes for every new invention in our society. There are the early adopters and the inventors, who dare to think differently. These people are going to continue thinking differently, and they are making incredible changes.
By the way, is that a real moving train with so many people on it? Oh my god!
Take care,
Zoli
Hey Zoli,
Great to hear from you as it’s been ages! Yes that’s a real picture and a real train I think it’s taken in Pakistan from one of their religious festivals…I’ve seen packed trains in india before, but nothing quite like that! LOL
Really liked that you mentioned relationships and people coming and going. Especially if you are making positive changes for yourself in your life and before you were negative or not doing so well, you will find new people coming into your life. You must be strong and dump the poor influences that were part of your life before the positive change. Enlightening info and thanks!
My pleasure Jeremy and I’m so glad you’ve found some really useful articles on my blog.
You know, what struck me the most was actually your point about DECREASING communication. You constantly hear about how we need to “stay connected” and how we as people should be as open as possible (in regards to communication) but rarely did I ever stop to think about how such an act could actually be slowing me down. Between IM, Facebook, texting, calling, and face to face meetings, I DO indeed spend a lot of time just shooting the breeze with friends when sometimes I could be more productive.
Don’t get me wrong, I think having a strong social life is VERY important, but it’s also important to realize there’s a fine line between wasting time on IM and having a real conversation with someone.
Thanks for the article Amit, good stuff.
-Travis
Hey Travis, my pleasure and thank you for the input. I haven’t regretted that decision at all and in fact I feel lighter and more productive as a result. There are still many lessons to learn from that whole side of things and communicating with people but I that I definitely took a step in the right direction for me.
That’s a very thought provoking article. So much to digest and process.
Lately I have been working at taking action instead of thinking so much, and now I am going to work on changing my luck as well.
Hey David, glad you enjoyed this post, thanks for sharing! π
Awesome article dude! I personally don’t think that it’s as long as u think…. Probably coz i love reading lol π
I love the picture and all the points u made…. Here are my thoughts on them:
1. Uncommon Sense – I didn’t know that u could get a ticket for blowing your nose whilst the car is stuck in traffic. I mean that’s just ridiculous, why don’t people use their (un)common sense anymore? It’s almost as if common sense is a punishment coz uve gotta teach it to imbeciles like the ticket-wallahs out there!
2. How To Let Go Of People – I have lost a lot of people whom I deemed very special and close to me (not as in death of a person but death of a relationship with a certain someone, friends, family members, relatives, etc.)…. And since then, I have been very apprehensive about developing close relationships with people because I’m scared of losing them…. But then, over the years, I’ve realised that nothing lasts forever. We just have to make the most of our time in this birth and on this planet…. The death of my relationships with different people has been a blessing in disguise because it has paved the way for the wonderful souls that I have in my life today! π
3. How The Media Can Sway You and How To Become Immune – this I think links to your first point about (un)common sense because some people are so blinded by the media and so reliant on them that they easily believe wot they are told…. Regardless of whether it is true or not…. The same applies to a typical Londoner’s opinion about the weather – some people I’ve noticed are so unbelievably annoying because they complain about the weather so much! If it’s cloudy, they complain that it’s a miserable day and they’ll be moody and depressed all day…. When it’s sunny, they’ll complain that it’s too hot and that they’ve got sunburn, etc. etc. I mean for f***’s sake man get a life! lol why let the weather decide wot mood u choose to be in today?
4. Great Minds Don’t Think Alike – it’s interesting how uve put such an awesome twist on this notion that it’s made me question whether or not I’ll be using that phrase again everytime I and another person come up with the same idea or sentence…. Very good! π
5. How To Be Frugal With Communications – even though I’m not a gadget geek or a materialistic person that I feel the need for the latest phone or PC or wotever, I will definitely agree that communication has taken over our life…. It’s everywhere – via email, text, IMs, WhatsApp, MSN, Facebook chat, etc. etc. I miss the good ol’ days when people used to write letters to each other or made a call on one of those classic vintage telephones with the spin-dial system lol yeh yeh I’m a relic, can’t help it! π But too much of anything is bad, hence too much of communication means that we don’t get to spend time with our loved ones in person as much as we used to…. You know how we have a No Smoking Day every year? I think there should be a No Phone or Internet Communications Day – imagine that! The whole world would break down into a phase of dementia lol π
6. How To Fully Immerse Yourself In Your Comfort Zone – this is scary yet exciting! Yet some people I know are so embedded in their comfort zone, that they suppress the need to break free coz they’re worried wot people would think of them…. Who cares blad??! We shouldn’t choose to be someone who people think we should be coz people’s choices change every minute these days…. If we constantly strive to be wot others want us to be, then we are forever their prisoners… Break free! Realise your destiny and work towards that π
7. Understanding The Nature Of Trade OffΓ’β¬β’s – thing is that it is all about forward-thinking and a practical approach…. I do a lot of recycling and yes it will use up more resources but we are using and reusing these resources so aal iz vell in the end π but I agree, people should definitely be more planet-conscious…. Let’s save our planet guyz and dolls! It’s the only planet with chocolate! π
Throughout this awesome design of things you receive an A+ with regard to effort. Where you confused everybody was in the details. As it is said, details make or break the argument.. And that could not be much more accurate in this article. Having said that, permit me say to you what did work. Your writing can be rather powerful which is most likely why I am making the effort in order to comment. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. Next, even though I can notice the jumps in reason you make, I am definitely not sure of how you seem to unite the points which inturn produce your conclusion. For now I will yield to your issue however wish in the near future you actually link your dots better.