The Best Years of Your Life… Now!

So you find yourself in a “place” in your life you don’t want to be?

There are only two ways you got here. Before I tell you how to “break out” of your current situation you need to understand how you ended up here.

(1) Conscious or (2) unconscious intent

A big part of the Eastern Religious belief regarding karma, is called the “wheel of karma”. What it refers to is the belief that no matter what your intent may have been, you are bound to endure the ramifications of that intent. This is the point where I break with the concept of karma. To me “the wheel of karma” is fatalistic and limited. It does however, seem to explain why certain things and situations keep repeating in your life.

If your intent is unconscious and automatic (like when you are on “autopilot” and your actions and reactions are the result of habits) you will indeed feel like you are on some kind of “wheel”.

Intent is also “the starting point” of each one of your habits. The intent of your habit is going to determine where your life engine is pointed. Did you “get that”?

You don’t consciously think about your habits because they are automatic. Each habit comes with it’s own unique intent. Therefore a habit is an automatic direction pointer for your life engine. Because the habit was formed at some point in your past you may not be aware of the underlying intent.

So, for all intents and purposes you feel stuck. You find the same kinds of things repeating themselves over and over again in your life. If you make the mistake of thinking that these are “the cards you were dealt”, then you have trapped yourself onto the fatalistic “wheel of karma”.

Or to put it more plainly: Your stuck in a box! You can’t get out of this box because you continue (unconsciously) reinforcing the sides of the box with your habits.

A core belief of the Intentional Prosperity™ philosophy is that we all share two primary “powers”. Your imagination and the ability to determine how you are going to use your imagination. (free will)

This means you do not have to be “stuck”!

At any given point you can change your intent thereby changing the direction of your life. You can begin to become aware of your habits and determine whether or not the intent of that habit is in your best interest. Does it bring good into your life and good to others? Or has it been canceling out the good you really want?

The big message here is that you are never “condemned” to having to live a life not of your (current) choosing …

Unless you, by your own inaction, choose to continue that life. That’s right, you can’t escape the old “action, reaction” law of physics. We are bound in this physical world to take action. We either choose the action we take or the action continues to be chosen for us by our habits.

On one hand, we can assume our “free will” power to make new choices. On the other hand, we continue to hand over that “free will” power to conclusions we came to under different circumstances… at other times in our lives… Conclusions which became our automatic habitual way of reacting to similar situations as they come up in our day to day lives.

Do you want your life to be ruled by a decision you made when you were five years old?

Hey, it might have worked then but will it work now?

To a great degree, this is what your habits actually are. The results of decisions you made at other times that have become automatic reactions. Want to change your life? “Review and update”!

By the way, in case you haven’t made the connection: Your attitudes and opinions are also habits!

The “system” of life is amazing! The rules are fairly simple once you “get it”. The bottom line is that you are always in the process of making a choice. The question is: Are you always aware of the choices you are making? For most people the answer is NO! Thankfully, you have the power to change that.

So, do you feel stuck in your life?

The good news is that you are not! You are just in a holding pattern. One that will be temporary or “extended” depending on what you decide to do next!

-Bob Baran

I’m using the term “karma” because there is no universally accepted term in our culture which more accurately describes the concept of “personal intent”.

“Karma” is a word often bandied about in our culture. Usually along with the words, good or bad attached to it. The concept and truth which lies behind the word karma has a direct impact on your day to day life.

Remove the obvious Eastern Religious connotation from the word and you are left with a simple truth.
“What ye sow, so shall ye reap”.

What you put out as thought and action will inevitably return back to you. How accurate and real is this?

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

This is a basic “law of physics”. The modern rocket engine is based on this principle. The rapid evacuation of heated gases spewing out of the rocket engine’s nozzle causes an immediate opposite reaction. In other words, it causes the rocket to move forward which is the opposite of the direction of the output of the rocket engine. If this basic law of physics didn’t hold water, a rocket engine would never work in the virtual complete vacuum of outer space.

What does this have to do with karma?

The rocket engine propels the rocket. It can only go in the direction which the front of the rocket is pointed at. Likewise, you must think of your intent as the direction your life engine will be pointed. At it’s most basic level, whatever your intent is, when it is coupled with energy, (either thought or physical action) it will propel your life in a direction which brings the same qualities of (your) original intent into your life.

Does it mean the same thing you do will also happen to you? No. It means the same quality (flavor) of energy (appearing as new circumstances and potential opportunities) will show up in your life. You see, positive or negative energy has less to do with the form you put it into… It has everything to do with your initial intent and the amount of energy (thought and action) you invested to move that intent forward.

Think of your intent as the primary “cause”. It is the first “action in a specific direction” you ever take. Intent is the navigation system of your personal “life engine”. As your “hot gasses spew out of your life engine’s nozzle” it can only move your life in the direction your intent has pointed it in.

For example, if you wanted to go the planet Venus you wouldn’t point your rocket at Mars would you? What many people fail to understand is that your intent is the most basic form of “pointing ourselves in a direction”. If your intent is negative, all you’ve done is point yourself in a direction which will alter the course of your life trajectory in a manner that is equal to the negative intent and level of energy you initially put forth.

Obviously the opposite is also true.

If your intent is positive your life trajectory will inevitably bring you into a place of possibilities and circumstances in which your positive intent can be manifested.

Of course the “circumstances and possibilities” I am referring to are the new relationships, situations and the opportunities they make possible.

What if your intent (at some point in time) wasn’t positive and you now find yourself in a “place in your life” you don’t want to be? I’m going to explain how you can “break out” of that situation in tomorrow’s blog post.

-Bob Baran

Even with the best directions there will always be a trial and error process involved with taking the journey from where you are to where you want to be in life.

Think of it as the learning curve.

It should be viewed as a process of internalization. These are the steps you take in order to make the understanding and implementation of that understanding “second nature”. In other words, once you “get it” you are able to apply the new information automatically whenever the need arises.

You’ve probably already experienced this many times before. (It’s a natural process) Whenever you begin to do something new, you go through a learning curve. It always gets easier to do the new thing as time goes on. Ironically, this doesn’t always apply to those “new” things you may embark upon which are associated with self-growth.

Let me explain:

You’re not a finite piece of software or a machine. Yet, in order to get from where you are now in your life to where you want to be, you still have to understand and master your own “operating system”.

What differentiates your operating system from any other type of software or machine is that your “OS” has infinite capabilities, is fully relational and constantly evolving.

1. Infinite capabilities: The outer limits of your imagination constitute an ever changing limitation to what (you believe) is possible in your life. As you recognize the limitation you have placed upon yourself you can choose to change it. (your belief) Remember: This point within yourself is never permanently fixed. The “edge” of what you believe “is possible” is always what you currently accept it to be. At any given time, your imagination, coupled with your belief, determines that “edge”. Think of it as the current height of your personal “glass ceiling”.

2. Fully relational: This means if you change one aspect of what you imagine or believe, your attitudes, opinions and other beliefs begin to realign in relationship to that new belief. This is the part that can cause a bit of frustration at times. Especially when the new belief creates a conflict with previously held beliefs. It takes time for the new belief to fully propagate itself into your “consciousness”. So you are going to entail some trial and error during this part of the process. Think of it as “testing” whether or not the new belief holds up under real-world situations.

This is going to require some paying attention, on your part, when these situations arise. You will have to consciously apply the new belief to the situation and determine whether or not the results are what you hoped for.

3. Glass ceiling: This is always a temporary situation! For all intents and purposes, it’s an invisible resistance to actually living the belief or dream. You can “see” it but you’re not “there” yet. Your learning curve is what dissolves the glass ceiling and turns a belief or dream into reality. Just remember: Because you can “see” it means you are already in the process of dissolving the glass. Just don’t give up on the learning curve before you’ve achieved your desire.

One of the great lessons of life is that you can create your own future…and that it will always be what you expect it to be. Change your expectations and your future changes. Your new reality will be the result of your internal evolution coupled with your external actions which support your expectations. The real learning curve are those trial and error activities which will serve to either reinforce or discourage your belief in those expectations.

Ironically, whether or not an outcome from a trial and error activity reinforces or discourages your expectations will always be a decision only you have the power to make.

-Bob Baran

Stop using others as a means of measuring your progress!

I’m not talking about getting their approval, I’m talking about using what you perceive to be their achievements as the yardstick to measure your own!

You are a unique individual with experiences and abilities no one else has. The “place” you start from and build your progress upon, is going to be different than any other person’s. To look around at what other people seem to have achieved is a waste of time and will always make you feel bad.

After all, someone will always seem to already have what you may be striving for.

A couple of things to remember which will put “what others have” into perspective:

Most people are in debt up to their eyeballs! That new car or truck carries a hefty monthly payment. Few people have the where-with-all to pay cash for a new car. The same thing applies to a house. Many people in nice houses are what is known as “house poor”. They have a nice home in a nice neighborhood but it’s furnished by “Wal-mart”! Because they bought the house for 5% or less down and have enormous monthly house payments!

What I’m saying here is that things are never what they seem.

When I was a young man in my twenties I remember questioning myself after visiting one of my cousins. He went directly from college into the management training program of a major corporation. I felt bad about my choices because this guy was living in a brand new house and driving a brand new car. I was in a rented house, nursing an old car and had just decided to go into business for myself…I was 26 years old at the time.

I made a different decision about my life. I didn’t go into the “corporate” lifestyle. I wanted to make it on my own. But my cousin, who was the same age I was had the “trophies” that I was still dreaming about.

I was making a mistake using what he was doing with his life and comparing it to mine…Luckily I stuck to my “guns”.

To make a long story short, less than two years later my business activities made it possible for me to buy a new house and FIVE new cars, in one year! (really) I was increasing my income by 20-30% a month. I don’t think he ever recieved more than a 10% increase in salary and bonus in a year!

I came to realize that he sold his time for a fraction of it’s real value… for the security of a weekly paycheck. On the other hand, I learned how to go “out into the world” and create money. That was my security!

What it comes down to is this: Don’t be deterred from “staying the course” in your life because you see others who seem to be “getting ahead”.

What you see is probably a facade! A false front. Your personal determination and commitment to be the best that you can be, at what ever undertaking you have chosen, will always have a pay-off much greater than those who opted for “security”.

The intrinsic differences are by themselves astonishing! I’ve always been amazed at the limited real-world experiences and subsequent knowledge and wisdom those who choose security cheat themselves out of. It’s like living a partial life. They never really had to test themselves, so they never had to find out what they were made of. The more years they spend in the secure job the more fear, uncertainty and doubt they feel about their own abilities.

Opting for security has a way of robbing you of experience and self confidence.

The personal commitment you make to start from where you are and go to where you want to be, is its’ own reward…and is a journey with a value only you can measure. The pay-off is huge! You get to live a full life, learn and prosper from your experiences and make decisions based upon your own criteria.

Stop looking around at what other people seem to have and focus your time and energy on recreating your self and your reality.

Living life on your own terms is its’ own reward…And is something money (or going into debt) will never be able to buy.

-Bob Baran

Another cost of greatness will be the effect upon your existing relationships.

Most people define themselves by their relationships.

How their friends, acquaintances and family members “see” them is who they believe they are. This changes as you become self-actualized.

Your friends and acquaintances will become a byproduct of who you believe you are.

You will no longer feel the need to be a “part of a crowd” or to “fit in”.

This will be a radical departure from the norm for many who undertake the journey into personal greatness. So much so, that it’s not unusual for some to feel apprehensive about even considering any change to their current friends and acquaintances. Let me put your fears to rest.

You will find any changes that take place will be a normal natural progression. If you decide that your current friends and acquaintances are a bad influence. You may have to “cut the umbilical cord”. This would be the most extreme situation. In most cases however, one of two things is probably going to happen:

1. Certain friends and acquaintances will turn out to be fully supportive of your desire to do what is necessary for your journey into personal greatness. You may find that they too have embarked upon their own journeys. These relationships will continue and deepen over time. Both of you will discover mutually fascinating aspects of each other as your trust and support becomes the cornerstone of your relationships.

2. You will find that certain friends and acquaintances will react with skepticism, question your motives and your approach or will be offended that you somehow think you are better than they are! Pay attention, this can happen on a subtle level or be very obvious.

It’s hard to believe that people who you now consider to be your friends or acquaintances could be offended at your desire to better yourself.

It’s a fact!

It will surprise you who (if any) will have this reaction. You see, your personal determination and decision to take a journey into being the best that you can be is a direct threat to those who have decided (for whatever reason) that the life they are now living is as good as it’s going to get. You are in essence telling them that you have decided that there is more that you want to discover…that you want more out of life.

The “oh you think you’re better than me” reaction is more common than you think.

Overtime as you become more familiar with the infinite degrees of personal greatness you are capable of achieving, you will begin to recognize those individuals who have “given up”. What you may also find is that they also recognize you as someone who has not “given up”. You may without any intent on your part, become an intimidating reminder of their own lack of desire and determination to better themselves. Your energy and enthusiasm is overwhelming. Your light is too powerful for those who cover and subdue their own.

What I’m saying here is this: If you embark upon a journey into personal greatness your friends and acquaintances are going to change over time! They will be replaced wonderful new relationships with like-minded individuals. You will have the kind of people in your life who will enhance and empower you. This is a good thing!

The “others” who see you as a threat to their own “world view” will remove themselves from your life. Just don’t be surprised at who it is or when it happens…because it will!

-Bob Baran