and now 54 playful strategies to help you snap
out of autopilot by Chris burrows Brown this book is read by Chris burrows brown
to all the crazies the weirdos and the freaks to all those who don't fit in but
stand out to everybody who knows that this is the most extraordinary of lives
and it's happening right now to you your wakening introduction over the years I
have noticed that I have not been myself I don't mean that somehow I have been
out of sorts or physically unwell I mean that someone else has been living my
life I have moments where I am deeply connected to myself my family and
friends the work that I do and indeed this amazing planet on which we live
these moments are special when they happen I feel like I have absolute
clarity I'm very present and very aware there is absolutely nothing missing in
fact everything is just perfect when I. Experienced those moments I feel as if I
truly connect to who I am and where I. Fit in this wonderful thing called life
there are no fears no worries and no concerns because everything is just
right and from this place I know that everything is fun light and playful and
that the essence of this life is a fantastic game the downside is that this
state is all too often fleeting and before I know it I am back to leading a
pinball life where I am bouncing around at ridiculous speeds out of control and
scoring points only by crashing into targets unintentionally then by chance I
pop back out of it a day a week or even a month
later and I wonder what the hell's been happening most of us have experienced
driving from point A to point B and reaching our destination with no
recollection of large chunks of the journey we arrived safely and were in
command of the vehicle throughout the journey and yet it feels as if somebody
else was at the wheel because we can hardly remember anything about getting
there we were driving on autopilot truth is this doesn't just happen while
sitting at the wheel this happens everyday that we are alive
it happens at work it happens at home it happens in life and this is what wake
up is here to address autopilot life the reason that most of our lives are spent
on autopilot is due to the way our brains work the brain works in two ways
consciously and subconsciously and together this uses up a large chunk of
our overall energy around 25% according to many clever science folk the
conscious brain is used for processes involving logic rationality and higher
levels of cognitive function when we are trying to decide whether leasing a car
is better than buying one or whether ground-source heat pumps will really
save us the money while helping the planet we are using conscious processing
this takes a lot of energy which is why when we tackle a particularly tricky
intellectual challenge we often feel very tired quite quickly the
subconscious brain on the other hand is a more efficient machine it is adept at
looking for patterns and similarities in what we are experiencing now compared to
what we've experienced before if something looks like a close enough fit
to something from the past the subconscious assumes they are the same
and therefore directs our behavior accordingly so that we respond in the
same way as we did last time so if we have noticed that the kitchen
door no longer shuts as it should when we are carrying two glasses of wine out
and we don't hear the tell-tale click of the latch our heel automatically taps it
in just the right place at just the right pressure to close it perfectly
sweet this takes no thought and that is the beauty of autopilot it is a
brilliantly efficient process that saves no end of effort and is absolutely
necessary for us to function we cannot consciously deal with every
detail of our lives if we had to do so we would be exhausted just think how
hard it is to learn a new language or an instrument or even drive a car for the
very first time when we are carrying out menial tasks things that are habitual or
things that we have practice often enough for them to feel natural then the
subconscious is rather wonderful at conserving resources for use when we do
things that are more taxing the subconscious thinks faster and more
automatically than the conscious brain which is why people who play tennis or
the glockenspiel brilliantly have it to thank they have practiced to the point
that the subconscious takes over and does a much better job than the slower
conscious thinking it's undoubtedly an exceptional performer in those
situations and it's important to make that distinction the challenge is that
the subconscious has no off switch as we tend to live lives of habit with
ingrained routines most of what we do is stuff we've done before and therefore
autopilot becomes the default mode of existence if we were a tennis player
that might not be a bad thing but most of us don't spend all our time on a
tennis court life is more complex than that
we therefore need to manufacture a better balance between the two systems
of our brains it is impossible to quantify what the right balance should
be or in the capacities of the conscious to run
more of the show but most of us know instinctively that if we can become a
bit more awake and liberated from autopilot every day it can make a huge
difference to how we live our lives the caveman brain the human brain hasn't
evolved a great deal over the last 50 thousand years and we retain today
survival instincts designed to protect us from prehistoric dangers such as
beasties wanting to eat us rather than the perils of modern living to survive
we developed a mechanism within our brains that would spot potential dangers
instantly and react to them immediately it served us well back then as the
faster we reacted to even the vaguest of threats the better chance we had of
survival being fearful was therefore a key factor in your genes procreation so
over time it became integral to humanity's DNA those hazards are now
long gone and yet most of us still exhibit an instinctive aversion to risk
it's part of who we are when we are on autopilot we don't question that
negativity bias we just obey it the caveman brain is hardwired to be
wary of anything new and different or anything that challenges our identity
and what we know to have worked in the past the caveman likes things to stay
the same of course the caveman is only trying to
help us he is trying to keep us safe he will never go away as he is part of our
design however we can learn how to listen to him and respond rationally
rather than obey Him unthinkingly when we noticed him producing a fear response
pumping us full of adrenaline to encourage a fight flight or freeze
response we can stop breathe and ask what is really threatening about this
situation often our inner caveman likes to stimulate a bigger reaction from us
than is warranted while you are on autopilot the caveman
is in charge when you wake up he loses his grip understanding how to listen to
him appreciate what he's telling you and then consciously choose what to do next
is key to finding liberation and leading a shinier life let's consider the two
ends of the conscious subconscious spectrum subconscious mind when we are
on autopilot our subconscious is in control this
means that we tend to be very reactive to the world in which we live
when we experience any kind of emotion we react and our reactions dictate how
our day goes the subconscious loves fantasy and when entice us into a
daydream whenever possible daydreams are usually about the past or the future and
create a huge distraction from what is going on right now when we are on
autopilot we make snap decisions about everything and very often they're bad
ones if we're feeling tired we gulp down a sugary soda rather than
taking a few minutes to relax and recharge if we've had a hard morning the
comfort of an overindulgent lunch might be what we reach for making us
inefficient for the rest of the day it could be that the tasks we need to
deliver today seem tough and pointless so we turn to Facebook as a welcome
distraction autopilot feels a little bit numb its passive its disconnected when
it kicks in we often feel as if we are very much on our own and that survival
is our number-one priority we lose awareness of who we are and what is
important because we are driven more by instinct
than in sight when we look in the mirror what we see is what we believe we are
and nothing more a name a face a fixed identity with little connection to
greater humanity time flies by as in this state we are either busy with
thoughts and fantasies and actions or we enter the twilight zone in which our
brains are drip fed by digital devices social media gaming television the
morning newspaper I call this the Shadowlands when we are there living on
autopilot and always scared because being scared means you are
prepared for danger we are living in a primal almost animalistic way our
subconscious may be efficient but it ain't make it a shiny conscious mind the
opposite end of the spectrum is where we wake up this is a truly connected and
conscious state we have all experienced such moments of crystal clarity fleeting
glimpses of how wonderful life can be often they are sparked by apparently
random events walking in the countryside on a particularly sunny day or hearing a
piece of music that literally strikes a chord with us it may be as we hold a
loved one close sometimes and rather bizarrely we feel more alive when death
or disaster intervenes the day before I. Wrote this David Bowie died although it
was a particularly sad day there was something rather magical about
it I found myself more awake because of it as I was reminded not only that like
Bowie you can absolutely be who you want to be in this life and celebrate the
fact every day but also that nothing lasts forever a very useful perspective
in staying conscious everyone has their
own experience of waking up to life it's a common part of living when we do tune
in we notice that we no longer react to the world around us but we respond more
deliberately and with greater purpose we seem to have a wider choice and can flex
our perspectives to appreciate any situation from a positive point of view
our mind quiets we find it present and focused as opposed to its more erratic
behavior on autopilot when we wake up we notice that we are anything but on our
own we are truly connected to everything and everybody on this planet because
energetically we are all one this heightened sensitivity helps us
understand what is important and what is not and enables us to leave our petty
obsessions behind so that we can focus on what really counts when we wake up we
become aware we create we harmonize with the world around us instead of trying to
fight it and we find that everything becomes easier for me it's a truly vital
state of being in both senses and couldn't be more different from being on
autopilot breaking free from autopilot autopilot is like sitting passively in
front of your TV constantly snacking when you're not even hungry and letting
whatever is on the screen wash over you when you wake up it feels as if you are
starring in an award-winning TV program you've created yourself and that you
will continue to do so every day you walk this planet just take this moment
to ponder some of the times when you have felt fully awake and connected
close your eyes take a deep breath and room
yourself how it felt specifically concentrate on what made the experience
so enjoyable what was your mind like in that moment what emotions bubbled up for
you at that time what was the sense of connection like to yourself to others
and to the planet what was it about this moment that felt different from how you
feel when you are on autopilot draw it write it scribble it down one of my
ongoing frustrations is that although I.
Have accessed this amazing state of
wakefulness many times it disappears all too quickly and I return to the
treadmill of autopilot time and again ironically that frustration helps
encourage autopilot to take over more easily when we try too hard we can take
things far too seriously to wake up we have to have fun and relax it doesn't
work from an uptight place the reality is that our subconscious is extremely
efficient at taking over our minds and will do so if given the slightest
opportunity regardless of what blissful states we've encountered as soon as we
start to get busy and do things we have done before autopilot will kick in to
save energy it's part of our design however I do believe that deliberately
waking ourselves up more often can have a profound impact on the quality of our
lives the decisions we make and our general a de vivre the more frequently
we do so the more attuned we will be to that state and the weaker auto pilots
grip will become it can never fully let go as we need it to survive but it can
become less dominant and instead supports us rather than rule our lives using this book before diving in and
experimenting with the techniques this book offers to help you wake up it would
be a useful exercise to spend a day or even a week just noticing how often you
feel truly awake carry this book with you and jot down on the previous pages
whenever you notice it and what you think is responsible for it when I tried
this I was stunned by how infrequently I. Woke up while working I recently asked a
group of people to audit themselves for a week and each person came back
surprised by how much of their life was dictated by autopilot a couple of honest
folk even said that during the test they couldn't think of one time they popped
out of this soporific habitual state and then wondered just how much of their
life had drifted by in the same way rather sneakily autopilot not only feeds
off our existing habits but also creates new ones
the caveman brain loves the familiar obviously it thinks something we have
experienced and survived in the binary world of 50,000 years ago can't be that
bad so when we are on autopilot we will naturally choose options we have chosen
before this results in large chunks of our lives becoming habitual and
smothering us like a large and downy comfort blanket I am a huge fan of
meditation mindfulness yoga and many of the more esoteric schools and have huge
respect for these philosophies however I. Find that they are much better at
getting me to work on my inner game than on my outer one there helped me manage
my energy attain focus and quiet my mind but not necessarily connect with the
great big soup of this and it humanity and universal
consciousness personally I need stuff to do as well as stuff not to do it's the
yin and yang of waking up this book is designed to supplement such calming
approaches with more giggles some action packs an experimental play I believe
that the only way to wake up is deliberately to bring in new and
different experiences to our lives that will provoke heightened sense of
consciousness as we engage with them we are all unique and each have different
needs beliefs desires and identities so different experiences will impact us in
different ways what works for one person might not work for another
essentially wake up is a series of experiments for you to try out and play
with see which work for you many of these experiments have been tested among
large groups of people and we know they have real potential to have a positive
impact others are presented here for the first time so you have the chance to be
part of an even larger experiment above all please remember that what you now
have in your hands is an opportunity not a burden this is not a book that will
add things to your to-do list to make even more demands on your time rather
these are just ideas for you to play with if it feels right if you skip some
don't feel guilty if some of them don't work for you that's only to be expected
there's no way they could all be suited to one individual there is no right or
wrong way to do them and no correct order to do them in just trust that
somewhere among them you will find what you need some people benefit more by
repeating and experiment on consecutive days for example you might try something
from day through 2 Thursday then on Friday
review and see what you've learned there are spaces in the book for you to jot
down your insights and learnings and outtakes as you go alternatively some of
you will find that doing an exercise just once is enough to get what it's all
about and that's cool too you might want to read the book from
front to back and engage in everything in between or just dip in and out when
you need a little boost my only advice would be don't just pick up this book
read it and put it back on the shelf you need to experience these experiments to
shift your consciousness wake up is about less thinking and more doing my
good friend Jeremy once said to me Chris there are those who do and those who
don't be a doer and life will be forever richer we cannot wake up intellectually
it has to be a holistic and energetic experience that can be provoked only
through doing some fun stuff don't take it too seriously it should be a laugh I
have deliberately gone light on research and statistics and all the technical
embroidery because that's not what this book is about there is no real science
of consciousness just opinion and this is mine to quote from my last book what
counts can often not be counted and what is counted often doesn't count and
that's where I am coming from for sure if you need more of a boost do these
experiments with a friend as they're learning could well enhance yours I've
noticed that instantaneous enlightenment from them is rare what more often
happens is that small changes of awareness have an impact far greater
than you imagined if you tuned into yourself as you try them out you are
likely to notice some extraordinary results
the movie Lawrence of Arabia is based on the life of TE Lawrence a man who
doesn't feel like he fits in and follows his own personal quest to find himself
in the desert he makes a very unlikely connection with Arabian desert tribes
one of the most famous lines before the start of the challenging battle is big
things have small beginnings while we are not about to confront the Turks with
our own band of armed Bedouins we are each in our own unique ways making small
changes that can potentially have a big impact on our lives if we allow them to
if one of the exercises in this book isn't quite working for you feel free to
adapt and Bend and recreate it into something that does the principles
within them can be delivered in many ways so make it fit for you the
exercises will help you either tune in and focus on something important plug in
to one or more of the resources that are all around you or power up your body
and/or your mind each exercise is divided into three sections an insight
into the experiment a plan to put it into action and the payoff you'll
receive when you do my last bit of advice before letting you loose on all
the fun is that the way you approach these exercises will dictate how much
you get from them if you go in half hearted you will get half-baked returns
if you rush them they will certainly whiz by you if you go in with an open
heart and positivity you will get abundance back and before doing any of
them just take three deep breaths either sitting or standing straight with a big
smile on your face and know full well that the adventure is about to begin
strap yourself in in summary spend some time noticing how often you get off
autopilot and wake up what made it happen see these
experiments as a bit of fun that can only add sparkle to your life it's not a
job it's a laughs before doing any of them take a moment to breathe deeply and
put a smile on your face and you will get much more back feel free to adapt
them so they work for you but just make sure you fully engaging them to get the
benefit breathe I don't know where we're going from here but I promise it won't
be boring david bowie breathing we each take about 20,000 breaths a day the
average human respiratory rate is 30 to 60 breaths per minute at birth
decreasing to 12 to 20 breaths per minute as adults as babies we'll take
deep relaxing breaths from our abdomen if you've ever watched a small child
sleeping you will see their bellies rise and fall as we get older the way we
breathe changes especially when we are stressed or alarmed our bodies operates
on our more primitive fight flight or freeze instincts and we take short fast
breaths to prepare for danger prolonged periods of stress mean we constantly
breathe like this only ever using the top third of our lungs it's the bottom
third of our lungs however that supplies two thirds of our breathing capacity so
shallow thoracic breaths mean we aren't getting what we need to function at our
optimum level as a result our cognitive abilities go slack
we have trouble staying alert and connecting with others and we often just
have less fun on the flip side when we breathe deeply were like clear to have
more energy and feel less stressed our posture and digestion can even improve
breathing helps release toxins and strengthens our immune system breathing
properly is the fastest way to get off autopilot as it slows down the brain and
gives us greater clarity the insight generally we are all useless at
breathing I learned how bad I was at it when I had to be coach for six months to
learn how to do it properly when we breathe incorrectly we starve our bodies
of oxygen and therefore find it hard to achieve clarity and balance between our
subconscious and conscious brains when our brains are going too fast and don't
have that balance we are naturally on autopilot if we can just slow them down
and get them to harmonize more our sense of connection increases exponentially I
tend to find that most of my clients struggle to breathe deeply enough and
therefore often find themselves reacting instinctively to the world rather than
responding deliberately to it without good breathing it is impossible to
connect either to yourself or to the planet and all the fascinating and
Technicolor energies there in the plan we are going to train your breathing so
that when you feel that you have lost consciousness and you are living on
autopilot you can bring it back quickly and effectively just by nailing the
breath I want you to spend three minutes breathing well five times a day when you
wake in the morning mid morning just after lunch at around 4:00 p.M. And
finally before you hang out with your loved ones here's how that looks
find a place where you feel comfortable that has few distractions and sits with
your feet on the ground with a straight back and start by smiling then breathe
in through your nose for five seconds and hold it for another six seconds
finally breathe out through your mouth for seven seconds repeat two more times
until you feel conscious and present and connects it stop if you feel
light-headed so all you have to remember is five six seven five seconds in six
seconds hold seven seconds out the payoff if there is one thing that you
can do anywhere at any time which has the most profound impact upon how awake
and connected you are its breathing taking a few good breaths beforehand
will enhance every exercise in this book poor breathing equals disconnect which
will let autopilot take over by breathing well you will have a much
clearer perspective much greater choice and a chance to be bigger in your life
make breathing well a part of your everyday life and you can't help but
wake up kill your television the insight when we are tired and feeling in the
need of some comfort the peel of snuggling up in front of the television
can be too good to deny all we have to do is press buttons to bring the world's
best entertainment into our lives it takes no effort and therefore we can
truly switch off a letter overstretched conscious brains shut down as our
subconscious rolls around in the colorful wonder world of the pixelation
in front of us a little TV is not a bad thing but a lot of TV is a waste of life
in the UK we watch an average of a little under
four hours of TV a day in America it's a little under five for most of us our
only time at home with our families is after work and it would appear that we
are wasting too many of those precious moments with our loved ones by entering
a televisual coma not only that television influences our worldview
increases the level of our dissatisfaction manipulates our spending
and even decreases the regularity of our lovemaking naughty TV the plan this week
the challenge is to not watch any TV.
Notice that when TV is not an option you
have so many other things you can do that are truly rewarding when you get
home from work or finish your day's tasks do something you wouldn't usually
do instead of absent mindedly vegetating in front of the screen read a book go
for a walk phone a friend learn an instrument try some new recipes hang out
with your family and have a proper conversation about what life is like
meditate grow something clean out the Attic who cares what you do as long as
it's a conscious choice and not in default autopilot mode a friend of mine
Ben Edmunds decided that instead of watching TV he would learn some new
skills one of which was to make a knife by hand as a result he now owns block
knives which makes some of the best chefs knives in the world and has a
three and a half year waiting list for their exquisite goodies what could you
achieve if you didn't watch so much TV. The payoff the first benefit of not
watching TV is that you will get a lot of time back time you can use to enrich
your life rather than just survive it over a week
if you usually watch the u.S. Average amount you'll get back a day and a half
of free time that's a three-day weekend every week
the second payoff is that by deliberately avoiding the passive state
induced by television you will find that you will be more conscious and therefore
more awake for more of your day and so we'll find it easier to make better
decisions connecting with who you really are and those loved ones in your life
let's lead extraordinary lives and not just watch other people's clean up your
act the insight when we are living our lives on autopilot our awareness suffers
we are not particularly aware of what our priorities are the impacts were
having on the world around us and how we're looking after ourselves
I am constantly struck by our ignorance as to what we put into our bodies just
to get through the day-to-day challenges that we face in any busy city you can
see hordes of people who are largely sustained and stimulated by high doses
of caffeine refined sugar and alcohol when you are reliant upon these drugs it
is very difficult to be fully conscious and aware as these little beasties are
controlling your system and not you they all work in their own unique way but
each one of these substances is amazingly effective at unbalancing you
interestingly we are probably aware of the powerful impact that alcohol has and
yet are often oblivious to the crack cocaine of the food industry refined
sugar recent research in France showed that laboratory rats chew sugar over
cocaine despite the fact they were already addicted to cocaine the plan I
am NOT. Suggesting that we should ban these
substances forever but I do believe that if we pay attention to our bodies will
be amazed at how we are poisoning them on a daily basis so this week we are
going to clean up our act for the next four days ban caffeine refined sugar and
booze from your system it's as simple as that so that means no lattes
no sticky doughnuts no sweets no sneaky drinks after work no cookies no
mass-produced gunk no fizzy drinks no glass of Bordeaux with dinner the
caffeine and the booze are relatively easy to spot but to avoid the refined
sugar you have to look very carefully at the labels of what you eat and trust me
it's in nearly everything in ridiculously high doses due to the
highly addictive nature of these substances especially the sugar you may
feel headachy and a little shaky without them drink plenty of water and eat small
frequent meals to help balance you out the cold turkey will be short-lived
so persevere the payoff is huge the payoff just the process of thinking
about how you eliminate them from your diet is a useful one by doing so you
will become more aware of how reliant we can become upon our little habits many
people myself included find that a simple detox has a profound impact I
personally find not having my americano in the morning more painful than I ever
imagined for the first couple of days then it's spell is broken and I can
choose whether it's something that I.
Want in my life or not rather than
acting only through addiction we can consciously choose what we put into our
system when we have already started to wake up and will reap the benefits
energetically every time we turned down one of those naughty little hits
this expansive way of looking at life the universe and everything can help us
gain clarity and realize that we are players on a small stage in a vast
cosmic arena travel into space the insight astronauts commonly experience a
deep spiritual shift when they see earth from space
they often realize that so much of their identity is based upon who they are on
our planet and therefore the way they live their lives and what is important
to them yet once they are physically separated from Earth and are spinning
around the blue dots once every hour and a half they find all their beliefs are
challenged in the most liberating of ways astronaut Chris Hadfield hit the
press a few years ago with his video cover of Bowie's Space Oddity which went
viral with millions of views he says that when you are in space you recognize
youn amity of our existence the commonality he felt his video was so
popular because it helps show people something I understand very well that
this is an extension of human consciousness human understanding human
perspective on ourselves we need to understand it and make it part of our
increased self-awareness this was a little step towards that the plan so
today we are heading out into the deep black expanse of space that surrounds us
to begin find a comfortable spot outside and sit somewhere you can see the sky
taking a deep breath smile and sit straight and then close your eyes and
imagine yourself sitting in a space rocket imagine the Jets
firing up and as the noise and vibration increase feel yourself lifting up from
this planet and see the ground beneath you getting further and further away as
you accelerate into space enjoy the ride once you feel like you are approaching
the moon land there gently look back at planet Earth and appreciate it for what
it is it's your home and a place where mankind has achieved some incredible
things as you watch notice how beautiful it is and how quiet it seems from space
there is a stillness that's quite intoxicating soak it all in and notice
any shifts that happen in you from this expansive perspective
don't rush it's not every day you can hang on the moon when you feel ready you
can start heading home and as you do so enjoy your re-entry into the atmosphere
first seeing continents then individual countries expanses of water mountain
ranges until eventually it's fields cities forests and roads then land
yourself comfortably back on the ground the pay off the galaxy's greatest writer
Douglas Adams summed it up well the fact that we live at the bottom of a deep
gravity well on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear
fireball 19 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some
indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be this expansive way of
looking at life the universe and everything can help us gain clarity and
realize that we are players on a small stage in a vast cosmic arena and thereby
reconnect with what is really important not what shouts the loudest tune in we
live fast-paced lives that are all about doing stuff we are amazingly good at
filling our days with activities and running from one thing to the next when
we are frenetic and focused on getting stuff done it's very difficult to tune
into who we are and the world in which we live much of this book is about
helping us step back from that busyness and energetically reconnects with
ourselves and our environment so that we have a clearer perspective of why today
can be extraordinary after years have been desensitized to
the world we need to recalibrate our systems if we are going to make a
wake-up a part of our everyday lives the fastest and simplest way to start to
reconnect with the sensitivity is to slow down sit or stand with a straight
back take a huge breath deep into your belly hold it for a few seconds and then
exhale letting all the stress and complexity of life out with it you know
you have tuned in when you are aware of who you are and where you are you are
present in the moment time slows down a little you are clear and focused you
feel good positive emotion everything feels right what you will find is that
every time you tune in it will become easier to do so next time to begin with
you may have to be quite conscious about deliberately taking action too
reconnect but over time you will find yourself doing it naturally as it
becomes ingrained in your neural and energetic pathways with more practice
you will find that this heightened state of awareness improves in quality and
clarity and is sustained for longer initially when you start that wonderful
sense of awareness may only last for a few seconds but soon you will find you
will hold it for minutes and then you lucky ones hours some of you might be
able to hold it consistently for days weeks or months or even years I've never
yet managed to get beyond a few hours but many claim that when they have made
such a profound connection they never lose it so let's hope that could be true
for us all before connecting to the energies outside of us
tuning in helps get our energies ready notice what you notice the insight many
years ago I was working on a creative project in London as part of an idea
session I decided that a new perspective was required and so my fellow creative
and I decided to cross London Bridge imagining we were looking through the
eyes of a child it was a fascinating process it took over an hour and a half
we had at least 30 ideas in that time all stimulated by what we saw around us
the project was designed to help our client avoid staff burnout by improving
their management techniques we looked at the River Thames in all of its
turbulence Eddie's and tidal flows we noticed that the water was moving at
very different speeds depending on what section we looked at it struck us that
our client only worked at one speed which was full throttle the idea that
came from the river was the each project would be designated as fast
medium or slow projects would be planned and scheduled according to their pace
and each team member would be assigned a mix of each so that they could manage
their energy better and have more time to reflect I would usually cross that
bridge by foot in a matter of minutes and not see any of the world around me
to be awake to the world we live in we need to see more therefore we're going
to be doing some tuning in the plan everywhere you go
for the next four days carry with you a small notebook and a pen
whenever you notice something that feels like it could be interesting to you note
it down in your book these things could be people conversations buildings
articles or a fleeting glance from someone in a passing bus it doesn't
matter what you find interesting it only matters that you notice it for me the
things that stand out tend to create some type of emotional reaction if the
emotion is noticeable then it is worth investigating why as there may be
something for me to learn for you it may be something different you may be far
better attuned to sights than sounds in which case tune in to what you hear as
you live your life and then notice which sounds and rhythms attract your
attention it may be that your life is too serious right now and that the
things that grab you are those that are more playful and fun just notice what
you notice the payoff by deliberately noting down the things we notice we will
become more sensitized to the world in which we live and as a result enjoy a
heightened sense of connectedness and vitality
others who have tried this often report that they feel more attuned to the
energy of where they are and start to experience more synchronicity the more
we notice the more awake we become cook from scratch the insight my relationship
with food has developed markedly over time I used to believe that the sole
purpose of food was to put energy into my system so that I could live my life
now that I know better beer and curry are no longer my best
friends although occasional buddies for sure when you start to become more
sensitive to energy you notice very quickly that what you put into your body
is what you get out when we live our lives too fast we can lose touch with
that fact when living on autopilot we are reactive to our needs if we're
feeling sluggish in the morning we know some caffeine will perk us up
mid-afternoon energy dip any snack laced with refined sugar will sort that out
usually we ingest this junk without even realizing we are doing it autopilot
refueled us and doesn't care if it's the right fuel in the long run it just cares
about keeping us going now the plan this week both at work and at home eat only
food that you have prepared yourself from raw ingredients this means no
prepackaged snacks no takeout and no processed garbage source the freshest
local ingredients that you can and you will notice the benefits visit your
local green grocer butcher or fishmonger and enjoy the process of finding out
what's best today certain things will look riper and more glorious than others
pick them up smell them and notice what attracts you
even if you have never cooked before don't worry because the Internet has all
the recipes for any dish you can imagine any shopkeeper worth their salt will
direct you to the things that are in season and will always have their
favorite way of cooking them ask them and you never know what you will learn
to make this work will require some planning and
preparation but it is well worth it the payoff after connecting more deeply
with what we eat today we will make better decisions about nutrition forever
you will notice that certain foods give you much better payback than others
through experimentation I have found that mass-produced bread is of no
benefit to me and therefore have cut it out of my diet without it I have much
better energy and are more consistent throughout the day we are all different
of course but by trying things out you will tune in to what suits you you will
also start to make friends with local shopkeepers and by doing so you'll know
where your food comes from and become so much more invested in it the difference
between mass-produced products and a lovingly created fresh dish is extreme
once you realize the benefits of eating fresh and how easy it is to deliver it's
hard to go back as Boy George once said never eat anything that has an advert
get lost at lunch time the insight most of us are in almost total control of our
own lives we manage our time money and environment
so that there are very few opportunities to be surprised the computing power in
our phones far exceeds the most advanced computers of 20 years ago and allows us
to check train times our bank balances weather conditions house there
stats grocery deliveries and how many calories we burn today without doing any
exercise at all with GPS hidden in all our devices we never experienced the
exhilarating feeling of not knowing where we are where we are going or how
we might get back whence we came being lost and alone helps us with
self-reliance and teaches us how to cope with the uncertain and new in our lives
as author and adventurer John Evans explains eliminating being lost may
sound good on paper but strikes me akin to settling into a very comfortable
wheelchair without learning how to run the plan this lunchtime I would like you
to go for a walk and get lost if you are familiar with your immediate
surroundings just jump on the first bus or train you see that's heading for
somewhere you've never been when I do this I purely follow whatever attracts
me and then I just see where I end up you'll never be entirely lost as you can
always ask for directions but losing your sense of place is all
part of the adventure so enjoy wandering aimlessly as you
wander slow yourself down and start to pick up more of the details of the world
around you when walking in familiar places autopilot takes over when walking
somewhere new and different we start to spot more intricate details of the world
around us the architecture and the street names the people living and
working there the smells and the sounds will all be slightly more tantalizing
and may hold a few surprises much of this would not be noticed while walking
on autopilot or looking down at your phone the pay off when we are lost we
tend to be in a more heightened state of sensitivity as we start to look for
clues to find our way home this sensitivity
helps us become more awake and to appreciate the environment in which we
live getting lost also means by definition
that we are drinking in new rich and often surprising experiences which helps
us enjoy being alive that bit more when you connect to what truly makes you tick
you will find you will be more conscious of living it right walkie-talkie the insight the pressure
and complexity of modern living often make it hard for us to find clarity our
busy brains can be quite distracted just dealing with the stimulus of everyday
living so it's often a challenge to get down and dirty with what really counts
in our lives a recent Harvard University study showed that at any given time an
average of 50% of the population is not focused on what they are doing this was
not the case 20 years ago simply because the tools of interruption were not so
plentiful we tend to construct narratives about who we are and what is
happening in our lives and often they aren't true
common fallacies include limitations about how we came to be in the situation
we are in and why we have no way out something along the lines of I can't
follow my passion until the children have grown up until then I must be a
beast of burden we become wedded to these falsehoods as they seem to give us
perspective when actually what they do is in prisoners in a world of fantasy
the plan to get past these stories and to help you connect with the truth take
a little excursion with a friend go for a short walk with him or her and while
you're walking speak really quickly about your life what's working now and
what's not what's making you happy or sad just blurt out whatever comes
into your head if you talk quickly enough eventually you'll run out of
logical clever or even truthful things to say at that point just say whatever
comes into your head and keep speaking quickly as you continue to talk every
now and again you will say something that creates some type of state changing
you those are the things of interest your friends role is just to listen to
what you are saying and maybe note down a few of what appear to be the key
points in your babble after 10 minutes of doing this it's good just to land
where you've got to you may notice that you've clarified an aspect of your life
that needed some attention the greater insight you've gained will perhaps with
a little bit of thought over a cup of tea help you decide how to address it
often after playing with this approach people find that they know exactly what
to do next the key thing is to write down what you are going to do
immediately as the clarity in this rather beautiful state can soon be lost
when the busyness returns and as good friends do it would be nice to offer
your buddy a chance to do the same the payoff if you do walkie talkie
whenever you are stuck you will find that you will become far clearer on how
you live your life and far more conscious of how to make sure that every
day is extraordinary it is like pruning shrubbery you need to clear out the old
wood to encourage new growth once you put the work in to make the changes
everything will blossom it's hard to be awake when you are living a made-up
version of your life but when you connect to what truly makes you tick you
will find you are more conscious of living it right make a plane and then
free it the insight I used to know a guy who had a rather strange obsession he
used to love taking a frisbee onto the top of a mountain and seeing how far he
would fly although it turned out to be an expensive hobby as many were lost to
the wilds he loved the sensation of seeing them
disappear into the distance we often live our lives feeling quite constrained
and boxed in it can feel as if the weight of the world is upon us and that
pressure just squeezes us until we fit the mold being frivolous and playful can
easily be lost from our nature and yet it is so much part of our essence every
day contains 1440 minutes yet we only spend six of them laughing let's stash
some fun minutes in the daily time bank the plan it's a simple one make a paper
airplane safely go somewhere really high and see how far it flies watch where it
lands so it can be recovered but most importantly enjoy its release and watch
as the wind takes it on a journey depending on the aerodynamics of your
craft and the wind conditions of the day it could go on the most marvelous
adventure although we cannot see turbulence and wind currents your plane
will be living with them a paper plane released on high is not too dissimilar
to the way our lives roll out their course cannot be predicted from the
start as there will always be some surprises some elements of life crash
and burn superfast and some take the most wonderful circuitous routes to get
to a place we could never imagine if there is something that's been
bugging you write it inside your plane before releasing it into the skies as
you do so literally let it go don't make the end too pointy if people are about
save the dart design for remote locations the payoff just doing
something for the pure joy of it can help us remember that this experience of
being on the planet is most importantly about having fun if we're not enjoying
ourselves and loving the experience of being alive then we are truly wasting
the glorious life we have been given there is nothing deep or clever or
profound about paper planes but the smile on people's faces as they release
them into the air is more worthwhile than any number of weighty and serious
therapeutic processes be a kid again and let them fly spiel Zhuge the insight my
good friend Dan Kieran introduced me to the concept of spewing his next book
will be devoted to the concept one so beautiful but I felt compelled to
include it here it is a German word and simply means plaything
but as is often the case its essence is lost in translation spiel choy 'grill
eights - the palpable energy that certain objects have many of our
favourite items have it a pen a coffee mug a pair of glasses or in my case a
guitar those things become our favorites because there is an energy within them
that is different from the rest an energy that personally connects with us
I believe this energy is not just within objects but also exists in buildings art
places and people some of you will be very aware of
shmulik others will not but what is true is that
when we attune ourselves to feel it more often then every day we have a much
greater chance to connect with our environment
connecting energetically to things around us will help us become more
conscious of ourselves and the world in which we live it will therefore help us
to wake up and feel more alive the plan this week spend 10 minutes a day quietly
holding some of your favorite things in your hands taking one thing at a time
close your eyes take a deep breath and notice how it feels
first focus on feeling its shape weight and texture and then letting go of that
focus simply hold it and allow yourself to connect more deeply if you have a
favorite book for example once you have held it pick up one that you have no
connection with and contrast the difference you will start to notice how
Spielberg can live in the strangest places and in the most everyday objects
certain buildings and locations will create a positive mental or physical
sensation while others will almost repel you when you find somewhere overflowing
with spheal so sit there quietly taking a deep breath and smile as you enjoy
what the energy gives you you will notice that certain people have this
energy - some folk naturally create an energetic connection to you making them
somebody you want to be around at the author and poet Charles Bukowski said
the free soul is rare but you know it when you see it basically because you
feel good very good when you are near or with them
the payoff being able to feel spheroid is like having your own compass for
living by attuning yourself to it and using it to help make decisions you will
find they will start making better choices that fit your energy when you
notice spheal sorg you will naturally feel more alive and more aware of who
you are and the world around you it's implicit in noticing as to feel it you
have to be connected and when you are connected you are awake spheal choy is
all around us tune into it and make yourself feel more alive power up when
we are tired overstretched depleted or just plain pooped we don't have the
energy to balance out our thinking the conscious brain needs lots of juice and
without it the subconscious just takes over for us to wake up we need a good
clean energy system the whole book is about energy but the distinction here is
less to do with universal energy and more to do without personal energy our
bodies and minds need to be well looked after if they are to spark in the right
way without the right spark it is impossible to wake up regularly and to
hold that consciousness to power up we need to play some tunes physically
through nutrition exercise sleep and rest we also need to learn how to get
our minds working more productively by dealing with negativity and fear getting
more focus and being more open to possibility and then just as importantly
we can get enormous amounts of energy by encouraging more positive emotions and
becoming more playful more excited and more sensitized to the world in which we
live and the way that we respond to it elements of this book will focus on how
you can get your energy to work better for you and how to make sure you have
enough of it we all have different engines and each needs to be tuned and
balanced in its own unique way experts can help us understand how to do that
but the key to success is knowing when it feels right and when it feels wrong
when you tune into that you can spend the rest of your time experimenting to
find out what it is that helps you resonate a positive dynamic and live and
energy you know when you get your energy right because you feel vital and dynamic
positive and optimistic and happy full of life balanced an open focused and
clear bathroom buff up the insight before the invention of the alarm clock
American Indians use their bladders to wake up in the morning at the right time
if they wanted to get up early they would drink plenty of water if they
wanted to get up later they drank only a little it is a simple idea but highly
effective and they used this method well into the 20th century recently I met a
man who used a similar awareness to help him make sure he had energy throughout
the day and that he stayed fit every time nature called he would do 20
push-ups he explained that it gave him two great
benefits first by exercising regularly throughout his day he found he had more
energy at work and therefore was always at the top of his game second he never
had to invest the time to visit a gym and yet he was totally ripped the
average modern Britain now spends more than 20 hours a day sitting or lying
down recent study from the Department of
Health states that only 6% of men and 4% of women managed the NHS recommendation
of 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week the plan take advantage of
nature's own alarm clock by doing something physical every time you need
to go to the loo you don't have to do 20 push-ups you could pull a plank for 60
seconds do some sit-ups or burpees or strike a yoga pose choose whatever suits
your body your style and the space and facilities you have available the key
thing is to do an exercise that gives you energy and if you make it a habit
you will see the benefits it gives you by the way you don't have to do the
exercise in or indeed anywhere near the bathroom after each visit just find a
space that feels good for you and do a 1 minute workout this takes a certain
amount of courage if you're only available space is an open plan office
but you'd be amazed how envious your colleagues will be when you drop and
give it 20 as if it's the only right and proper thing to do the payoff by
structuring in this simple and Swift bit of physical exercise you will find that
your energy will be more consistent throughout the day and that you will
feel more awake over a day this can make a huge difference to how alive you feel
and to the positivity that you bring to the party after just 4 days of doing
this you will already start to reap the benefits of being more buff buff this
brings confidence and general good vibes which is key in keeping us out of the
Shadowlands of autopilot draw life and get the picture the insight it's all too
easy to lose touch with what's going on in our lives
and what is most important as we get older it feels as if time accelerates as
we assume more and more responsibility and we can feel quite out of control of
our lives the more things we do the less time we spend on each activity which
means it becomes more of a struggle to engage properly with any of them micro
tasking is pretty unrewarding as everything feels as if it's only just
about done and we never get to celebrate it because as soon as it's finished we
dive into the next micro tasks we can become whirling dervishes with no real
appreciation of what's important and little appreciation of the fun I have
used this exercise for many years when connecting with my team and even more
recently with my son when we were having problems understanding each other the
plan this week I want you to grab a friend for big pieces of paper and some
colored pens take 10 minutes to draw what's been happening in your life over
the last year there is no right or wrong with this whatever comes into your head
is just perfect so get it down on the paper you don't have to be a great
artist as any squiggles can capture the essence of your experience and I often
find symbols and stick figures go a long way now shift your attention to
capturing how you would like the next year to be on another piece of paper
again take your time have some fun and dream a little ask your friend to do the
same again with no pressure or competition just enjoy now comes the
important bit take your time to explain your picture of the past and then your
picture of the future to your friend and then listen to them explain
soak it up and enjoy the connection as you listen to each other
generously and get more insight into what's going on for each other
the payoff this simple approach tends to cut through a lot of the noise and
fantasy stories that we clog up our lives with and it helps us to land on
the areas that have more emotional resonance there is no guarantee that
you'll have a breakthrough but chances are if you play with this approach a few
times with a few different people you will start to gain much greater clarity
as to where you are and where you want to go for me the most important elements
are not about achievements material possessions or the houses in which we
live but rather it's the quality of living that shouts out from this
exercise most of us draw how we want to be and not what we want to have by
nailing those elements you will find that you will be more conscious of who
you want to be every day and be driven to live that way helping you be true to
the unique and special soul that is your essence and waking you up to who you are plug in it's very easy for us to live
our days on this planet thinking that we are on our own we believe that our lives
are just ours to lead and that our struggles and the hardship we suffer are
only ours to bear spiritual practices can help us deal with external factors
by calming and balancing out our inner energies so that we are better equipped
to deal with the life we lead once we have learned to calm our minds and
increase our energy flows we can connect more readily with the world around us
making this connection can take decades I believe however that there is a
shortcut to waking up if we plug in to the energies that we have around us
every day and use them to change our level of consciousness for sure we need
to be tuned in to make that happen but that is just one part of waking up
when we plug in as well we take things to a higher level altogether imagine
that your body is a sports car and your mind is its engine we spent years
tinkering under the hood tuning the engine to such a degree that it should
theoretically outperform any of its rivals but that serves little point if
it never goes out on the track far better to make some small adjustments
then take it out for a few laps and see how it performs coming back with more
information that will enable us to tune it to the next level
personally I much prefer to time on the track to time in the garage energy
sources are all around us and some live in surprising places you may find that
you can plug into places times people sounds perspectives art literature food
the sea animals family plants yourself by working out what plugins you have
available you will find that wherever you go you have a way of waking up just
by flicking the switch my most powerful plugins are being in on or near the sea
properly connecting with people on what matters being in nature being in a busy
city but stepping back and soaking it up the list goes on you know that something
is plugging you in when it helps you tune in it expands your perception
beyond you and your you awareness it gives you a positive
energetic kick you feel connected to something much bigger everything becomes
possible and nothing is a problem the wider our repertoire of plugins the more
we can adjust to what's needed here and then we can wake up whenever we feel
like it first ten minutes outside the insight our days are getting packed ever
more full with increasing demands on our attention and energy we consume about a
hundred thousand words each day from various media which is a massive three
hundred and fifty percent increase on what we handle back in 1980 many of us
feel as if time is escaping us because of the speed at which we lead our lives
and the pace our constantly innovating society sets days blur into weeks and
weeks into months the Roman philosopher Seneca may have put it best two thousand
years ago to be everywhere is to be nowhere when we start our day we know we
have a lot to do the temptation is to leap into delivering that straightaway
if we start fast we will end fast exhausted and numbed it is likely that
we will have had very little awareness of ourselves or others during that day
because living frenetically means we lose connection with who we are and the
world in which we live the plan to rebalance the speed we are going to
start slow spend the first 10 minutes of the day outside without digital
distractions of any kind if it's impossible for you to go outside
stand by an open window get some fresh air on your face and look out into the
world the perfect place for these ten minutes would be sitting in a park or
garden but anywhere outside will give you the advantage we all need find a
place we are comfortable either sitting or standing and just be still for those
10 minutes breathing deeply with a smile on your face observing and connecting
with the world around you the peace and the space and the view of
the skies help us plug into the energy of the universe as you do so you may
notice certain thoughts come into your head just let them drift through without
questioning them what you will often find is that you will get a clearer
perspective on who you are and what is important to you right now the payoff
the moments when we first awake are precious this is when we are most open
to connecting to our essence the planet and our core values if you make this a
daily habit you will find that the connection you create in those first 10
minutes of the day is much easier to sustain when things get busy by making
it a deliberate act you will find it easier to respond to the world and not
just react we will lose it for sure but if we take a moment to breathe and smile
and look to the skies it will come back quicker and help us remember how
fantastic this life really is spread the love the insight everybody on this
planet is amazing we all have things about us that make us unique and special
but often we lose touch with what they are and can therefore easily lose our
shine our brains are for more attuned to seeing the negative
than seeing the positive yet there are so many people around us who can be an
inspiration to lift us up and help us make the best of everyday meaningful
human connection makes us not only happier but also healthier and helps us
to live longer a lack of it is more detrimental to our health than smoking
and obesity in short we need it Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman found
that our brains receive 20,000 individual inputs or moments every day
most can be categorized as either negative or positive
the magic ratio for happiness is 5 positive moments for every negative one
in a radio interview a successful happy young man talked about his troubled
background and difficulties in achieving at school what changed his journey when
a grade school teacher told him she cared and believed in him
this single encounter changed his life forever the plan today find one person
and share with them what it is that you love about them it can be anything at
all there are people in our lives who give us something special in often quite
surprising ways it may be the way that your partner leaves you notes around the
house or in your bag when you leave for work it may be the bus driver who always
asks how you are doing with a big warm grin on his face it could be the
neighbour who put your trash out while you are on vacation it could be a friend
you haven't seen in over 10 years but who has the uncanny knack of phoning you
just when the time is right and listens to everything with such patience it's
the small details that count here and it's the small details that add up the payoff by doing this one simple
thing you will get a whole heap of benefits first of all you will program
your selective attention to notice more wonderful things about everybody you
come into contact with while living your life if you perceive more positivity and
brilliance you will feel happier connected and alive by sharing the love
you will also make deeper connections with those people whom you have been
appreciating and deeper human connection has a direct benefits in helping us lead
more fulfilled and happy lives dress the same the insight we can often obsess
about how we look and the image that we portray some of us spending as much as a
year of our lives deciding on which clothes to wear I have worked with
people and indeed have friends who wear the same thing every day regardless of
what they are doing or how they feel I. Used to think this was a strange bit of
branding but I have noticed more and more people extolling the virtues of
this habit Steve Jobs was inspired by the workwear of Japan to simplify his
wardrobe Barack Obama told Vanity Fair that he adopted the only gray or blue
suit dress code because I am trying to pare down decisions I don't want to make
decisions about what I'm eating or wearing because I have too many other
decisions to make it is a modern phenomenon known as decision fatigue by
eliminating a basic decision from their days these visionaries are given more
space to think about the big stuff the plan for the next four days you will
wear the same clothes every day it's worth spending some time thinking about
which outfit is going to work for you and which indeed you have enough
items of to deliver four days of freshness then once you have decided do
not deviate from the path the time that you saved by not worrying about how you
look can be used for purely pleasurable activities take longer over breakfast
and consider your day have a proper conversation with loved ones before
everyone scatters off to their business do some breathing and get yourself
centered with a big smile on your face knowing full well that today can only be
great the payoff by taking that decision out
of our lives we may just find that we are slightly more comfortable in our own
skins and have a little more time to think about what really counts unless
it's a very special occasion I believe we should never dress for anyone but
ourselves if we feel good about who we are that's all that counts mostly when
we are dressing and taking too long deliberating we are obsessing about how
people will perceive us how very tiring dress for you and enjoy it of course
after four days if you have the desire to ramp up your look then go nuts with
it if it's part of who you are there ain't no holding back slow down the
insight life is getting faster our senses are overwhelmed by constant
bombardment of messages and a demand for decisions escalates year in year out
with the increased connectivity we have through technology our inboxes are
screaming for our attention what our friends are posting photos of their
latest trip to the Gili Isles which are too good to be missed with so much going
on the conscious brain is prone to just shut down so that our subconscious can
filter out all the noise my good friend David pearl and I set up
street wisdom a few years ago the principle behind her is that if you're
in the right state of mind anywhere can be a source of inspiration therefore we
don't have to go to one of those bucket list destinations like Machu Picchu to
have a breakthrough in short any Street can hold all the answers that you need
as long as you tune in thousands of people have experienced the benefits of
street wisdom now all around the world to help people tune in one of our
warm-up exercises is quite simply to get them to slow down when people walk five
times slower than their average speed something amazing happens they start to
notice the world around them and indeed the world within them because as we slow
down we become more sensitized to everything the plan spot a time in your
schedule today where you need to walk somewhere and plan in some extra time so
that you can truly slow down and roll around in the experience most of us are
tempted to slow down a little but this really needs you to slow down a lot to
push to the edge see how slowly you can move and notice what happens when you do
taking some deep breaths to slow the brain down will in turn help you slow
the body if people look at you slightly strangely just give them a little smile
watch out for the other people to whom you might ordinarily have been oblivious
when you slow down you often find that the most unusual connections happen in
the words of superhero Bucky there is nothing
in a caterpillar to suggest the butterfly until you slow down to find it
during street wisdom we have had the oddest of meetings when people almost
pop out of the ether to tell us something we need to know as we slow
down we connect more with ourselves and send out a more resonant and attractive
energy sensitive folk are all around us and they will notice it and often come
and play butterflies are all around us beautiful thought huh the payoff by
quite simply slowing down you will notice so much of the world and
therefore become more awake many people who struggle with meditation due to the
noise of their inner mind find that they can achieve peace incredibly quickly
just by walking slowly taking in big belly breaths smiling and noticing what
needs to be noticed simply by taking a slow walk every day you will find they
all become more conscious of who you are in a world that is moving fast a clearer
idea of how you interact with the world will make it so much easier to decide
not to be carried away on an uncontrolled wave of busyness but
instead to plow your own furrow walk in the woods the insight Japanese
researchers have proven the medical benefits of shinrin yoku or forest
bathing one study shows that it reduces stress anxiety and depression and
therefore is helping reduce psychosocial stress related disease and also reduces
blood pressure and boosts immunity another study shows that it increases
the body's NK cells a components of the immune system that
fights cancer these levels remain increase for a week after a day-long dip
in the forests bath or a month after a three-day soak I love that we all know
how good it feels to walk deep into a forest Bree you in the air that is thick with aromatic
oils and soak up the energy it's a place of magic no doubt we don't have to
immerse ourselves for weeks into ancient woodland to feel the positive impacts of
nature all trees have the power to help us reconnect with ourselves and with the
world around us the plan find some trees and walk among them the more trees the
better the older the better the less polluted the better but any
trees will help there are 44 accredited shinrin yoku forests in Japan but I am
sure you have one near you that may not have the stamp but still has all the
good stuff going on even in the most populated places there are trees nearby
find them and hang out when you're among them fill your lungs by breathing really
deeply and notice how calming they can be if you're a proper tree hugger now's
the time to get down and dirty and wrap your arms around the trunks while
breathing in the scent from the bark and immersing yourself in their auras if
you're not that full on just love them for what they are incredible
living ecosystems take a leisurely stroll around them then when you have
found a sweet spot sit with your back against a trunk and breathe it in the
payoff if I have something that is troubling me or I noticed that somehow
I'm off kilter a walk in the woods will often put me right it's hard to be
obsessed by the modern world when we are surrounded by the ancient one there is
something truly primal about woodland as so much of this planet used to be filled
with it when trees surround us we ground our energy while also feeling connected
to something so much bigger than ourselves they act a
little like a lightning rod for connectedness with the world make trees
your friends and you will find yourself waking up far more often and remember
some of the most amazing specimens are hidden within our cities go give them
some love to listen to your body centuries ago people were more tuned
into their bodies they listened more to how their bodies talk to them which let
them know how the weather was changing that they were missing something in
their diets or indeed that it was time to stop working few of us now make a
living through our physicality and even fewer need it to be a key tool of
survival since we have warm houses with hot and cold running water we have as a
results become dominated by our mental energy rather than the physical and yet
we could learn so much if we listen more closely to our bodies when we are tuned
into our bodies and we have balance between our conscious and subconscious
listening to our bodies will help us understand some of our deeper processing
and connectivity to the wider universe our intuition is precisely that it is
something that we feel in our bodies energetically that we then convert into
knowing or understanding if you listen more carefully to your inbuilt intuition
you will find it easier to wake up when there is something wrong with you and
you are sick the physical ailment is never without a connection to something
else within your energy system that is also out of balance if you tune in and
ask your body water is telling you you may learn that there is something that
needs to be addressed in your life that is creating this physical condition for
example when we are stressed at work we are more susceptible to catching a cold
other manifestations can be more serious once I work with someone who had a
persist and distressing neck pain that no amount
of physical therapy massage or Osteopathy would shift we spent some
time on what was bothering her and found that she was angry that her clients
weren't giving her more work to the extent she felt real resentment toward
them when we dealt with that resentment by helping her turn around her beliefs
and get more love in her the neck pain disappeared forever her beliefs
manifested in physical neck pain causing the problem when you tackle the area of
your life that is out of sorts the ailment will often disappear listen to
your body and see what you can learn in doing so you will wake up to a different
consciousness follow your body clock the insight our days are ruled by time we
awaken at a particular hour so that we can bathe dress eat breakfast and get to
where we need to be by when we need to be there as our time is dictated for us
we often lose touch with choosing how we use our days when I write my books I
make sure there is nothing that I need to do but write I make sure I am on my
own and have no responsibilities for others I disconnect from the outside
world I then follow the rhythm that feels
right for me invariably my pattern becomes very
different from my usual working routine I get up very early and immediately
start writing by lunchtime I often find I have done all I can do and spend the
afternoons doing something physical to balance out all the creativity of the
morning I then go to bed ridiculously early exhausted but happy and let my
mind make sense of the day it's a natural rhythm for me and one by which I
do my best work the plan this week take the opportunity to tune in to your body
clock and ask how you might live to make time work best for you I
appreciate that some of the demands on our lives are less flexible than others you therefore we need to take into account
and schools and Families so you may need to do this at a time that you can manage
more flexibility for example during school vacation or on weekends when you
have created the space just notice how you function at different times of day
or for different activities eat when it feels right to eat and only eat the
things that provide the necessary energy for that moment sleep when it feels
right exercise when you need it you may notice that it's different through the
seasons as well as for the variant activities in your life it takes a few
days to get into the rhythm so just go with the flow until it clicks into place
the payoff our modern way of living is not necessarily the most natural to us
the five-day workweek is a recent construct sleeping once a day is also a
relatively new habit when you look through history by challenging some of
these established structures we may find a rhythm that suits us better often
autopilot kicks in because we are out of state energetically unbalanced that is
usually because we are fighting our energetic systems when we work more
sympathetically with our body clocks we will find it so much easier to be in
state energetically aligned and therefore to wake up although we can't
always dictate the times of our living by cheating ourselves to work on our own
clocks we can plan with more awareness and therefore give ourselves the best
chance to be conscious more often live on just five dollars a day the insight
if you are reading this book the chances are that you are amazingly affluent
compared to much of this world if you are concerned about raising your
consciousness to lead a better life it is unlikely that findings have
efficient food and water and shelter are pressing issues for you it's sometimes
easy for us to disconnect from some of the bigger and harder choices that
others experience on a daily basis because we are lucky enough not to have
to we all know the statistics that are quoted ad nauseam 1% of the world's
population owns 50% of the wealth 95% of people earn less than $23,000 a year up
to half of the food we produce globally is lost or wasted even if we saved one
quarter of this it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the
world we know things have gotten pretty badly skewed out there but can we really
appreciate just how well-off we are when five dollars is your budget for the day
you have to consider carefully what she eats and drink which purchases are
absolutely necessary and which are not and what is considered a real treat as
opposed to something that just feeds a craving the plan today we are going to
live on five dollars clearly it would be impossible to include your mortgage
electricity commuting costs etc in this figure but this is what you are going to
spend to keep yourself alive it includes all sustenance entertainment hygiene of
the lot this will require some planning but will really help you tune into what
matters you may consider walking to a meeting instead of taking the car or
paying a bus fare preparing meals in larger batches for freezing will save
you chunks of change entertaining yourself and friends at home is
certainly going to be more cost effective than lavish meals on the town
how can you make that money stretch some fines they can manage this quite easily
for a just by doing less if that's the case
for you stretch it to a week the payoff although five dollars a day
may not seem like a lot to others it's a fortune restricting our opportunities to
spend by having such a fixed budget means that you have to really understand
what counts and what doesn't you will see the value in what you have already
most of the time we are cushioned from tricky decisions because we know they're
not that important to us when we have abundant choice when that choice is
limited and it becomes a little more painful we have no option but to be more
conscious of who we are and how we are living although this may be an
uncomfortable wake-up for some it can also be an amazingly liberating
experience there are people who have money and there are people who are rich
Coco Chanel write a song the insight unfamiliar creative challenges will
naturally engage us in a unique way if we keep doing what we've always done
autopilot will stay firmly in control if however we shake things up and push
ourselves to self Express we can't help but wake up writing something that has
no restrictions or rules and is innately personal helps us click into a different
level of focus and presence the best artists musicians and dancers have an
ability to drop into a space that gives them real depth of attention and a
highly sensitized state of mind versus the numbness of autopilot of their plan
your challenge this week is to write a song we are all innately creative and I
believe we all have amazing songs within us
my son Harvey writes songs constantly he is 10 and has yet to learn that we
should find it difficult or leave it just to the talented you don't have to
be musical to write a song you simply need to be able to hum a tune and put a
few words to it you can start with a rhythm a lyric or a riff whatever it's a
game to play not a tax return one of my friends is a songwriter and he always
starts with a simple idea and builds around it by the end that starting point
may well have been discarded but no matter it got him going some of these
songs will not work and they will sound comical but some will have genius within
them and will fill your soul when you sing them if you feel compelled record
it into your phone or even better say it to someone you love
the payoff creative acts are as necessary for humankind as food and
water our creativity is often stifled but it can never disappear by having
some fun with it on a project that has no pressure we can see how brilliant
that genius can be and realize it can also get it wrong experimentation is the
fuel of life trying things out and seeing how they work is what we should
be doing every day rather than doing the things we know are safe little
experiments with our creative side keep us awake and make life spectacular
stand-up the insight 100 years ago only 10% of us has said intreat jobs today
it's 90% and it's becoming a big issue for our health and our energy more
people will die from diseases caused by lack of movement than from smoking this
year when we don't move much autopilot takes over as being sedentary is where
our subconscious brains feel most comfortable if you're
to wake up move the plan this week when you are working be that in an office or
in your home spend as much of your time as you can
standing up I am standing as I write this and I find it really helps my
energy and focus at my company up in your elvis we often hold meetings while
out walking they are far more productive and much more fun plus we get to see
squirrels some folk find that smart watches that monitor your movement are
great ways to make sure you're not static for too long if that works for
you then great do what you must to get a wriggle on and not slump at a desk
the payoff small amounts of regular movements help us keep the conscious
brain firing we all process kinesthetically and therefore find it
much easier to think when our bodies are fluid I have a standing desk in my
office and it is made an enormous impact on my work I will never sit down to
think again the benefits of standing include reduce levels of fatigue tension
confusion and depression and more vigor energy focus and happiness all of which
will make it much easier for you to be awake for much more of the day say yes
the insight as time goes on we start to make an internal map of what is wrong
and what is right and what is in and what is out this map resides in the
subconscious and helps autopilot steer us through the thousands of daily
decisions that we have to make this is an efficient part of our design because
it means that we don't have to decide on every little thing we do each day but
instead we repeat what we have done before the danger with this process is
that we become so deeply habituated that we don't even
the wonderful opportunities of today as we are blinded by the map of yesterday I
was inspired as a teenager by the book the Diceman by Jorge Cockcroft under the
pen-name of Luke Reinhardt the book follows a character who makes all his
decisions by rolling dice and that is committed to following them by removing
his need to make choices he undergoes an extreme transformation and certainly
feels more alive as a result it may be an extreme solution and impractical
outside of fiction but the insight is a good one the plan each day this week say
yes to something that you would normally say no to it may be something as simple
as going to lunch with folk at work who you wouldn't usually socialize with it
may be that instead of walking past the cinema as you do most days you pop in
grab a little popcorn and enjoy a matinee sometimes the doleful eyes of
the child struggling with their math homework at 7:00 p.M. After a long hard
day is just the invitation for help that we should take I tend to find that the
best things to say yes to are the ones that create a strong reaction in me that
reaction could be excitement surprise nervousness or even rebellion it doesn't
matter as long as it wakes us up the payoff there are opportunities around us
every single day to which we are blind by saying yes instead of no for a change
we open ourselves up to new avenues of life and therefore have to be more
conscious aware and awake as we engage in them it is always easier to say no
than yes yes requires an openness and generosity and no keeps things just as
they are yes involves risk and no does not
yes requires effort whereas no requires none one
Xtra yes per day can be all we need to nudge ourselves to wake up and to
reconnect with this world of possibility and who knows who you may meet as a
result really feel it remote like Elvis the insight emotion in
the workplace has been tainted by the let's be professional Posse it would
appear that they believe being emotional is a weakness and a weak people do not
win that is bullshit emotions are what make living an enriched experience they
help us understand what is going on in our world and how we interact with those
around us the 21st century fad of bottling up emotions so that we can seem
in control of them has taken its toll on many lives every time we bottle
something up we are just creating a little minefield for the future where at
random it will explode much to our surprise during a workshop in my home
recently a fire broke out in a downstairs room by the time I got to it
it was absolutely raging it was one of the scariest things I have ever seen
fortunately we had a large fire extinguisher in another room with which
I was able to quell the flames the firefighters arrived to damp it down I
carried on with the workshop and all seemed fine my wife was away that week
and when she came home four days later once I'd finished running the program we
sat and talked about the week from nowhere I had this surge of emotion I
was flooded with tears and shaking shoulders the whole nine yards the
anguish and fear I had experienced in the fire had all been bottled up and it
wasn't until my wife was home that I. Felt safe enough to let it go
emotions not dealt with will come back to haunt us physically mentally
emotionally and spiritually so we're going to get them out and love every
second of it do not apologize for crying without this emotion we are only robots
Elizabeth Gilbert Eat Pray Love the plan this week when you notice that
you are feeling an emotion of note ie one that grabs your attention instead of
tucking it away and just powering through truly engage with it find space
where you are comfortable close your eyes and take a deep breath and properly
feel that emotion if it's a happy one you will notice that you naturally smile
equally a sad emotion when engaged with will naturally bring some tears a good
cry is good for us and nothing to be ashamed of do whatever you need to do to
express emotion and notice how you feel as a result huge caveat there is a
health warning with this when other people are with you remember they might
not be so cool with you expressing emotions because largely they feel
uncomfortable doing so themselves laugh or weep alone until you feel that you
have mastered the technique and then you can start enjoying them with somebody
else the payoff by dealing with emotions in the moment you will find that you
will be a lot more connected to yourself and what is going on a positive emotion
fully embraced just gets bigger an egg ative emotion fully experienced
eventually dissipates and leaves you free by feeling them properly you will
also notice that your mind will quiet which will help you be in the moment and
be more awake emote and wake up a little vacation from bread and dairy the
insight there are certain staples in the Western
diet that we would hardly ever question bread and dairy being two of the most
common 99% of American and European households buy the every week and
consume them daily cow's milk is meant for baby cows cows have a very different
digestive system from us our bodies find dairy products pretty hard to digest we
buy them in part because mass marketing and Commerce have led us to believe that
they represent the easiest way for us to take in calcium essential for the health
of our bones and teeth in fact plant-based foods like broccoli
chard kale almonds and figs do a much better job bread has a similar story the
industry has moved a million miles from the simple origins of a handmade loaf of
whole grain flour water and salt which would provide us with a sustenance and
nutrition our bodies need now I'm not suggesting that bread and dairy should
never be eaten but ingesting too much of them does have an adverse impact on our
energetic state the plan cut out dairy and bread from your diet for four days
it's that simple no BLTs no cappuccinos no focaccia no
pizza no yogurts or toast hey you know the list for four days all of these are
off the menu now for some people this will seem like a terrible hardship but I
promise it isn't it may take a little bit more work but you can find amazing
nutrition that doesn't involve either of these food groups I eat a lot more fresh
vegetables and fruit salads rice dishes and noodles are particularly good when
hunger hits soups and stews can provide better comfort than any toasted sandwich
it is worth carrying some nuts and seeds with you for an energy boost if you do
get a little weak which will help prevent fainting until you find a place
that can serve a proper meal the payoff when I first did this I was amazed how
much bread and dairy I was eating and how unaware I was of it I found it
particularly hard to travel around Europe while not eating bread especially
in countries like Italy in France where meals on the go are traditionally white
and Flowery what I also noticed was that I had more energy and I felt more
connected to my body when I eliminated them I have since added back a little
bread maybe once a week but when I do eat it I choose locally made spelt
sourdough over mass-produced fluff balls with dairy I find milk doesn't fit me at
all but of course a piece of stinky cheese on occasion lifts the soul so
much that the body doesn't care give it a whirl and see what you learn about
your body be someone else the insight who we think we are is who we become all
of life's rich experiences are little nuggets of insight that can potentially
frame who we are the way we interpret those nuggets will shape both how we see
ourselves and our identities unless you spend much of your life gleaning
feedback from all the people around you it's impossible to get a true perception
of who you are and even with the feedback it's likely to be warped no
one's identity is entirely fixed were human chameleons adept at modifying our
behavior according to the circumstances we find ourselves in and when you couple
that with the fact that we are constantly evolving as we live grow and
experiments with our personalities it's very easy for us to believe we are
someone we are not so as we can flex like jello on any given day why don't we
just push the boundaries of who we think we are the plan
today be someone else spend some time thinking about who it is you would like
to be the best characters are those that give us something back maybe you'd like
to play with a little extra mischief maybe a little extra drama maybe some
more flamboyance or maybe just a little bit more I don't give a shit as long as
it gives you a kick it's worth playing with it could be a made-up character one
from a film or book or someone from your past imagine their lives and how they
react to the world while playing out some scenarios in your head how do they
carry themselves what would they wear what would they like to eat and drink
what are their favorite expressions get inside their skin a little in
preparation for stepping onto the stage it may well be that this act is hard for
you to keep up for long in which case you should identify a moment in your day
for you to become that person maybe on the way to work would be a good time to
experiment or when you go out shopping or out for lunch if their character fits
well wear it for longer and see what happens as a result the payoff our
personalities are not fixed we are flexible in who we are and how we
present ourselves and yet often we feel quite trapped in our own skins by
playing with different personalities we might find there are aspects of
ourselves that have been underplayed which has resulted in us losing some of
our shine by bringing these to the fore and celebrating them we can feel more
alive and wake up to who we truly are it's hard to take ourselves too
seriously when we're putting on a show let's enjoy the fact that we can stretch
ourselves and bring a little more personality to all
that we do journal the insight when the pace of life is too fast we often don't
get enough time to ourselves for reflection reflection is how we make
sense of our experiences without time and space to do that perceptions get
warped and the connection we feel with our lives can become blurry by writing
things down we clear our minds of some of the noise we slow our brains down and
we change our relationship with the things about which we write when things
are written on a page it changes our perspective compared to when they are in
our heads swimming around like goldfish this disassociation can give us power
over our thinking like no other the plan each morning this week find a space to
write your journal as near to when you wake is best as our minds are clearer
and hence more creative then begin writing and just freestyle don't worry
about grammar or syntax all you need is some paper and a pen and a cozy spot
that is quiet and good for a ponder your bed is a good comforting place even
better if you have prepped it the night before with pen and paper to have at
hand and start writing as soon as you wake close your eyes take a deep breath
so you feel truly present and then write down anything that comes into your head
don't edit yourself just let it flow some of the things that you write might
be absolute nonsense some things might not be true and some
things might sound pretty dumb don't worry just keep on writing once you have
written for a good 10 minutes take a moment to pause read it through if you
like but if you do make note on its quality we are not expecting
Proust here just mull over what you have created the payoff by creating some time
for yourself to connect with what's going on with you in this amazing world
of ours and by giving yourself the chance to self express in a way that is
not critiqued you will find you are more clear grounded and dangerous as a result
I say dangerous because most of the time we are like a beautifully built fire
that is yet to be lit it may look great and have wondrous potential but it's
pointless clarity gives us edge and edge helps us become way more shiny checking
in with yourself provides the kindling that helps you light the fire every day
it guarantees that you focus your time and attention on what matters and not
just on what seems most pressing you'll also find that when you listen to your
subconscious and it's creative outpourings you will find it easier to
think in new and innovative ways to explore all aspects of your life steal
back time the insight far too many of my clients seem to have no control of their
own time much of the blame lies with shared calendars or at least the bad use
of them if you're not in control of your time you are not in control of your life
and it becomes super easy just to switch off and live on autopilot as you bounce
from one meeting to the next never really having to take responsibility for
any of them it is a comfortable way of letting the day's drift by but it's
certainly not the tickets to an awakened state and a more extraordinary life the
plan each day this week I want you to steal back some time from your calendar
it might mean canceling meetings or fabricating new ones that
aren't actually happening you might seek favors from friends so they pick up the
kids you might decide that this week the house doesn't need to be spotless and
that it's Thursday clean and slide just a little perhaps just before that
business dinner you'll feel a little bit fluey and
decide it's better for all if you don't pass on any potential germs use your
creativity and find a few spaces that you can enjoy the key to making this
work is to make sure that you do not fill the spaces with anything other than
stuff for you you could do anything with that time as long as it fills your soul
with joy or helps you connect more to yourself and the world there is no point
in stealing time if you let it be repossessed keep it make it yours and
relish the freedom and space it offers you the payoff when we act more
consciously to decide how we spend our time we naturally create space to move
from auto pilots into a more awakened state by doing so over one week you will
realize how much of your time seems to fill automatically and how much over is
wasted as a result be ruthless with your commitments and then when you do give
your time give it generously with your full attention and focus and you'll find
that you have started to wake up more and more every day lost in music
throughout the 1990s a psychologist called Alf Gabrielson collected accounts
of strong experiences related to music here is one I was filled by an enormous
warmth and heat I really swallowed all the notes that were streaming out in the
air not a sing notes effect or sequence missed my
hungry ears I was captivated by each of the instruments and what they had to
offer me nothing else existed I was dancing whirling and really get myself
up to the music and rhythms overjoyed laughing tears came into my eyes however
strange that may seem before I was in a very bad state depressed it was during
the most critical time ever in my life I.
Found it hard to get on with people and
had to really exert myself to be able to get to grips with things afterwards I
was bouncy giggling lively and filled with deep joy it was so bewildering that
it almost felt as a Salvation powerful stuff be lost in music the insight
listening to music has a huge impact on the way we feel it can synchronize our
brain rhythms and therefore directly influence our emotions when we listen to
music we know and we love our brains release dopamine as they would if we
were to take opium trippy Bob Marley was one man who understood the power of
music very well one good thing about music when it hits you you feel no pain
it is a great healer not only that when we listen to music the sound waves
impact every cell in our bodies giving us a whole body massage to the unique
rhythm and pitch of the tune music takes you on a journey like no other but too
often we just let it wash over us without fully engaging it's offered a
part of the background noise as opposed to something that we get properly lost
in the plan for the next four days choose one piece of music
means something to you and sit in a place where you can properly soak it up
eliminates all distractions and listen to it in as high a quality as possible
notice where it takes you physically mentally emotionally and spiritually
feel those sound waves surround you and just let go my favorite pieces of music
evoke deep emotional reactions some take me back to a very particular time and
place a moment that is somehow amplified beyond my daily experience more often
though I love music for the journey that it takes me on if it's a piece but I can
best appreciate only on my own in a quiet room with my eyes closed and the
volume jacked suggests the right level then I know it's something that somehow
touches me in a magical way those are the pieces that I want you to play with
for me right now I can't get enough of Sufyan Stephens I put on Carrie and
Lowell and off I go the payoff music is most often used to
regulate our emotions when we are in a bad mood it can get us out of it or
allow us to wallow in it it can accentuate what we are feeling or help
dissipate it regardless of where it takes us it can help create dramatic
swings in how we are feeling by immersing yourself fully in a musical
experience you will notice that your emotions will be heightened and your
imagination primed this state can be a wonderful anchor to connect back to
consciousness and to leave the world of busyness behind in five minutes you can
feel as if you have been to a spa for an hour and can come back rejuvenate it
with a much clearer sense of how you want this day to be and ready to
experience or shine make a cup of tea the inside
when I asked a friend once about his top tips for properly being present in the
moment he said when you do the dishes do the dishes what he meant was that when
we are doing menial tasks we often become lost in a world of imagination
and conjecture we aren't living in the now but imagining the future or
indulging in the past our minds love to fantasize about what we're going to do
next weekend or how we should have told the boss exactly what to do with this
week's report autopilot is in full control at that moment and therefore we
are neither awake nor aware the plan we are going to do one of the simplest
tasks with absolute focus and awareness we are going to make a cup of tea salon
Earl Grey green dandelion or whatever tickles your tastebuds simply tune into
the moments that help make it notice how your arm moves towards the tap you turn
on the tap the water flows you move the kettle to fill it you turn off the tap
you flick the switch or light the gas you cross to a cupboard and open the
cupboard door you select a cup and carry it to the kettle the kettle
to the boil your fingers lift the teabag and drop it into the cup you pour the
water and watch as the tea infuses leaving it for as long as is necessary
you carefully lift out the teabag and add milk or lemon if required hopefully
no sugar the tea is made before you lift the cup take a moment to notice what you
have just done remain in the present notice how you lift the cup lift it with
as little effort as possible notice your feet on the floor drop your shoulders
smile savor your tea drink as if this is your first and your last cup of tea
repeat during the day and at any time in your life the payoff if we can be fully
conscious and awake when we are performing habitual actions then we are
retraining our brains to be more present more often during the day
anything we do with full focus can be an enriching experience so experiment with
other activities that may feel like chores and see if you can use them to
remember who you are when we spend our lives imagining our futures and reliving
our pasts we cannot be connected with the now and so are running on autopilot
we must learn to wake up when doing things that would ordinarily be mundane
so that when we are doing things of real importance we can flick the switch on so
much more easily what I love hate about me
the insight most of us are far too self-critical and we listen far too much
to the little voice in our heads there is always a reason why we are not
perfect good-looking enough smart good fit funny and so on and we can spend our
whole lives looking for evidence to support it if you look hard enough of
course it will be there that life sucks it is driven by the subconscious which
has an inbuilt negativity bias and therefore we can only see that bad it
has been developed as a survival technique but as we know in modern
society spotting the danger in everything is no longer helpful many
years ago I went on vacation alone to Mexico it was a pivotal moment of my
life when I decided to find some space to think about who I was and who I
wanted to be as part of my exploration I. Learned that in order to be fully
present and connected I needed to embrace my shadows as well as my light
the plan find some paper and write all the things you love about yourself
really relish this experience luxuriate in it so many things about you
are unique and special and make you who you are and then on the right write down
all the things that you hate about yourself this is where you can twist the
knife and spew out the vitriol we all have in us so let's be truthful once you
have completed these two lists spend a while looking at them and really soak
them up this may take some time but your challenge is to learn to love all
aspects of both lists and to appreciate good or bad that they are what makes you
who you are over time in my workshops this process adopted the title embracing
my arse this quite simply happened because
of my inherent childish humor also incongruous ly part of my arse the title
makes me smile every time and hence speeds the acceptance process along the
way call it what you like but let's veer toward keeping this exercise a giggle
someone the payoff when we embrace our shadows and realize that our foibles and
imperfections are what actually make us who we are
then those voices go quieter and we have a chance to shine more brightly when we
love who we are our connection to this life becomes such that we cannot help
but be more conscious and awake for most of us this is something we need to
revisit constantly but is well worth the effort as it holds real liberation
happiness can only exist an acceptance george orwell sunrise or sunset the
insight when we all lived off the land and our families depended upon the
weather for a good harvest we were deeply connected to the planet as our
fortunes directly correlated to it we would rise with the Sun and retire at
dusk adjusting the timing of our lives as the seasons unfolded surprisingly
there were areas in France where less than 200 years ago people would still
hibernate in the winter they would literally change their living patterns
as earth orbited the Sun nowadays for many of us it's very easy to become
disconnected from the world we can protect ourselves from the weather have
artificial light in the darkness and pretty much exist regardless of what is
going on you outside this disconnection from nature
robs us of our all and wonder but we can discover outside our windows every day
by rediscovering it we have a chance to wake up the plan this challenge is to be
outside once a day sitting quietly at either sunrise or sunset or if you want
the double-whammy both when you do so notice how it feels for the world around
you to go from light to dark or dark to light take your time and enjoy an event
that happens every day day in and day out sunrise and sunset
are a constant in our lives and are not affected by events like time and tide it
is something that's for now at least we can rely on it's rare that we get to
stop and fully appreciate the changing of night today or day to night and yet
it is fundamental to the very pulse of the earth the pay off when we consider
that sunrise and sunset are governed by how the Earth orbits the Sun and spins
on its axis it also helps us to consider where we sit in this universe we are
like specks of dust on the wind and yet get to hang out in the most beautiful
and wondrous places where everything works in exquisite harmony the chances
of the atmosphere here being able to support life and that life has
flourished as it has are so small but I. Can't help but wonder about how we
aren't doing are we really making the most of the gifts we have received such
a perspective helps us resist the constant attraction of autopilot and
reminds us that to make the most out of this extraordinary life we need to wake
up there's a sunrise and a sunset every
single day and they're absolutely free don't miss so many of them Joe Walton
fight the amnesia the insight the reason we spend so much of our time on
autopilot is that the subconscious is very good at taking over our brains
unnoticed in those moments we have amnesia where I spend chunks of time
gazing out of the windows of planes and trains and taxis I often have no memory
at all of time passing I am so lost in my thoughts that I have no awareness
that autopilot is on and I am in a state of dreaming we may experience peak
states of connected consciousness while swimming with dolphins dancing up the
Himalayas or sitting quietly with a friend
however we forget that this state is also available to us every moment of
every day when we return to our busy hectic everyday lives the amnesia
takes over and once again autopilot kicks in Louie would Eisen
the South African golfer used a simple little trick to get his focus back and
stop his distracted brain from undermining his performance he placed a
simple red dot on his glove and would focus his attention on it when he was
about to swing this helped him create the right state to perform well it was
so successful that it helped him win the British Open in 2010 the plan to remind
ourselves of what is possible and to remind ourselves to be awake we
need a helping hand in fact in this case our own helping hands today either put
your watch on the other wrist or draw a flower on your dominant hand
it will be wobbly but don't worry every time you notice the watch or the flower
take a moment to sit straight breathe deeply and put a big smile on your face
so that you connect with who you are in that moment and in that place it takes
about a week for most of us to make this a habit so if you enjoyed it for a day
keep going and soon it will be part of who you are
the payoff every time the watch or the flower catches your attention and sparks
a moment of self-reflection deep breathing and awareness you will find
yourself kicked into waking up the more you do this the easier it is to go back
to that awake feeling and the less time you will spend away on autopilot simple
structural reminders like this make a huge difference in fighting the amnesia
and we really need them as there are so many other influences such as television
and social media that are designed to induce autopilot digital detox the
insight nowadays you can't read a newspaper without seeing another piece
of research about how our lives are being impacted by technology and that we
need to learn to manage it better we know technology is essential to human
advancement and is vital to us being better custodians of this planet however
humanity is easily distracted therefore a relation with technology needs to be
relearned every time we hear a ping or feel a
vibration we get a little release of dopamine in our brains making resistance
to looking at our devices futile is it any wonder that we check our smart
phones on average 221 times a day recent research found that 80% of millennial
look at their phones upon waking this addiction is a strong one as a result
our cognitive processing has become shallower and we have become so
distracted that we play directly into the hands of the autopilot digital
devices are modern-day tranquilizers they instill a trance-like state almost
immediately as there are anchors for us subconscious to take over we must learn
how to manage the machines rather than let the machines manage us the plan you
have two choices depending on how far you want to take this one is easy the
other slightly more demanding the easy way to manage a digital detox is to turn
off all notifications on all your devices which includes email calendar
apps everything your challenge then is to look at your devices only when the
time is right and you decide consciously to do so Bob Geldof recently put a ban
on mourning emails at his super successful TV company ten Alps every
email received gets a message saying that the sender's query will be dealt
with after 2:00 p.M. I employ these people to have ideas he says what's the
point in having a company of secretaries work out which part of your day is most
useful for you to connect to the digital world and limit yourself to just those
moments for those wanting to go deeper into the detox I would challenge you not
to use anything digital at all for four days and see how you feel as a result
that will be a proper D didja fication the payoff by managing the way you
interact with the digital world you will take control of your attention and focus
and there or find it much easier to stay conscious
and awake remember that those devices put you on autopilot and that you should
use them only when necessary when I did a full disconnect I found that the first
couple of days felt quite taxing but it soon became extremely liberating my
phone once broke on a business trip and I had no way of getting reconnected for
over a week it turned out to be a fabulous break and taught me that
technology is our friend when we consciously use it and not when it uses
us give it some chant the insight sometimes the things that feel the
weirdest are indeed the best chanting is a much underrated beastie in the West
and it has been the spiritual grounding for thousands of people sound has been
used since the start of time both literally and metaphorically to generate
different moods in people whether you talk about the formation of the universe
as the Big Bang or God's creation both must have involved sound and vibration
every cell in our body is vibrating constantly and when we get them to work
in harmony it's a beautiful thing sound super hippie but it is actually anchored
in science chancing is practiced all over the globe including in Japan much
of Africa Hawaii Tibet North America and Europe and in various guises remains one
of the most colorful aspects of most major religions if it's that widespread
there must be something in it it's been proven to help with anxiety and
depression but for me it's a form of creative self-expression this helped me
get into the here and now and has put a massive grin on my face it's not that I
chant every day but it's one thing that I always have in my back pocket for when
the time is right the plan first to get a good chant on
you need to be in the right space you need somewhere free of distractions
preferably somewhere in nature it's common to feel a little self-conscious
when emitting resonant tones but it is important to overcome that so find a
space where you feel comfortable to do whatever you damn well want I am NOT a
believer in a prescribed chance although certain sounds have certain benefits for
sure I personally like to see what noises come out what sounds good to my
ear and is feeling great to my heart this isn't about nailing at the perfect
gregorian chants or even the tuneful Buddhist mantra of all money padme hum
but getting your own sound into the world don't be afraid to experiment
throw out some sounds and see which ones capture your attention are not fun
enough to keep repeating lose yourself in it until you feel it is taking you
far enough if you're stuck try some wah-wah-wah-wah or some shucky shucks
shucks shucks I sometimes begin with some funky fat fucks and till my head
clears and more positivity is emitted no rules just find what feels good and
repeat the payoff once you make chancing your friend you will find that it can
take you to a different space very quickly the resonance in your chest and
head has a very particular effect depending on which notes and sounds you
throw out when you hit the one that is right for you you can become extremely
well connected with yourself and what's around you and profoundly awakened in a
very short time if you don't quite get the spiritual Nirvana fear not chancing
often has the wonderful side-effect of triggering a good laugh climb a tree
the insight the simplest of pleasures are often the richest and yet the way
that we lead our lives means that we commonly detach from them as we age our
lives naturally become more complex we have evermore and varied
responsibilities so cannot help but fractionate our attention we rush from
one task to the next juggling our work and home lives being with our families
getting the shopping done servicing the car preparing meals and organizing the
kids even fun stuff like planning next year's vacation can leave us feeling
dissatisfied the more functional each action becomes the more time pressured
it feels we have lost the twinkle in our eye as children we could find joy in
pretty much anything cardboard boxes provided hours of entertainment we love
to escape into our own little worlds created through fantasy and the purest
joy this challenge will help us reconnect with that ability and help us
feel more alive and exhilarated the plan find a tree and climate trees have been
in existence for 370 million years and with around three trillion mature trees
growing in the world each one certainly has a story to tell
some scream out climb a and some don't find an inviting and friendly tree there
requires a little exhilaration to climb but no extreme efforts or
life-endangering peril it's not about climbing the highest tree
just the one that appeals and please climb within your limits or not at all
this exercise isn't for everyone if you do climb don't rush it enjoy the smell
of the leaves the touch of the bark and the gradually changing view most trees
have a place to sit that feels just right it's
worth spending some time finding that place you'll know it when you do now
take a deep breath and hang out there notice how you become connected to
nature and yet how disconnected it is from the busy life we often lead notice
also the difference in climbing up from coming down
cats do if you feel drawn back to this tree climb it again tomorrow if not find
another one the payoff by doing simple things that can fill our souls with
childlike joy we reconnect both to who we are and to the planet on which we
live it's easy to believe that the only way to achieve a profound shifting
consciousness is to do something big and bold like quitting your job and walking
the length of the Nile I'm sure that such adventures are good for the soul
but they aren't everyday living the simple stuff is what we can do whenever
it's needed without the expense of plane tickets and malaria pills tree climbing
also lets us reconnect to who we once were there is still a kid in each one of
us and he's begging to play more and to not take life so seriously by letting
out the inner child we will find real joy in the simple act of living we don't
need more stuff we often just need to lighten up and have a laugh grown-ups
never understand anything for themselves and it is tiresome for children to be
always and forever explaining things to them Antoine de saint-exupery eat when
hungry the insight some years ago I went to Thailand for a fasting retreat I
couldn't believe how good I felt as a result and have since been fascinated by
a relation with food and how it affects the way we
feel there is plenty of research out there that suggests that fasting not
only help sustain shape but also aids brain function increases energy prevents
type 2 diabetes delays Alzheimer's and fights cancer
powerful stuff hara hachi bun me is the ancient Japanese Confucian teaching that
instructs people to eat until they are 80% full more prosaically it has been
proven to help extend life expectancy in laboratory animals either way it helps
us to be more aware of how much we are eating when we detune our cells from
what we put into our bodies and ignore what we need in favor of what we want we
eat too much and the wrong stuff this induces a sort of dietary coma which
invites autopilot to the party of the plan this week I want you to eat only
when you are truly hungry and to eat only small amounts you may eat ten times
a day if necessary but by making the portion size smaller you start to
realize what you absolutely need rather than what you crave to begin with it's
common to crave junk food but as you start to eliminate some of the toxins
and your body becomes purer you will notice that the cravings start to shift
depending on your physiology the climate and even the time of year your taste
will vary but if you follow the regimen you will be rewarded the fresher and the
more raw you can safely make your food the more enhanced your energy system
will become often we confuse thirst with hunger so drink plenty of water and
obviously avoid refined sugar caffeine and booze keep in mind food guru Michael
Pollan's words don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't wreck
as food and all will be well if you have or are susceptible to an eating disorder
you should not attempt this experiment the payoff when we are more aware of
what we need to fuel our system we will make sure we put the right energy in to
get the right energy out overeating and eating sugary foods will create a state
in which it is very challenging to remain awake overeating numbs the mind
and sugar / stimulates it either way it kicks you out of balance by holding high
standards for what you consume you will naturally become more conscious and find
it a key contributor to waking up untold story the insight I believe that we all
have a story that needs to be shared it's a narrative that explains both why
and how we have become who we are your personal story is the one that you
wouldn't ordinarily share yet we subconsciously return to our stories
every day as a means to explain how we show up in the world much of our lives
have passed without the chance of great reflection it is difficult when you're
busy to step back and appreciate experiences for what they are and
because of that these stories we tell about ourselves can grow into mythical
beasts without us even realizing yet they have a direct impact on how we live
and how brightly we shine I know a girl who believed that being dumped by her
boyfriend before her exams resulted in her not getting to the right University
not getting the best job therefore not having the best life and therefore not
trusting men for the rest of her days turns out the story isn't quite true as
it got embellished by her in her head over time
it helped her make excuses but not an amazing life the plan this week think
about a story you have never told a story that somehow has a bearing on who
you are today spend some time breathing deeply with
your eyes closed just remembering the small details of that story and reliving
the energy of it once you have reconnected with that story find
somebody in your life who you trust and tell it to them just ask them to listen
without passing judgment and explained that this is an experiment in connecting
with your past and as a result connecting more deeply with others take
your time there is no rush as you tell the story notice any movement of energy
in you and keep smiling breathing and looking your friend in the eye you may
decide as a result of this experience to then tell the same story to other people
in your life as you tell more and more people you may find that this story
changes you might give certain aspects of the story greater emphasis than
others that's fine it's your story you may decide that there are other stories
that have more emotional resonance with you and they are the ones that should be
told that's fine too there is no right or wrong but this sort of storytelling
can help you find a deeper connection to what makes you tick
the payoff our stories can act as liberators or incarcerate us the
significance we place on them is often far greater than we are aware of and by
sharing them we can raise our consciousness and use them to help us
pop out of our daily fogs some inhibiting stories when told become
laughable and we realize they are just fabrications
thus setting ourselves free others help us understand more about who we are the
space to reflect on important moments of our lives and to share them with
somebody we care about can be deeply therapeutic and if nothing else will
help us all feel that little bit more alive too much of our time is spent
focusing on things that are irrelevant by telling your story you'll be focusing
on what counts when we engage in what counts
we can't help but wake up do something new do the insight it is very easy to
lead a life full of habit we have our favourite sandwich shops our favorite
newspapers and our favorite seat on the bus there is something warm and
comforting about doing the same stuff day-in day-out because we crave
familiarity we are led to believe that if we stick to the familiar routine in
life the terrifying prospects of uncertainty will stay away the problem
with living like this is that it triggers the autopilot when experiencing
the familiar our subconscious brains automatically kick in so that our
conscious brains can relax in short the more habituated our lives the less awake
we are the future will pretty much largely for the important parts look
like it does today so stop worrying about what might happen because it most
likely will never happen and go find a lot of brilliant stuff we are missing
out on by doing the same old same old every day have some fun
experiment and try on a life of Technicolor
who knows what shades will look the best on you the plan today do something new
it can be anything at all as long as it seems a little more fun and exciting
than know it could be that you buy your lunch from
someone new it could be the listen to some music that you haven't heard before
it could be that you try that hobby that you've always been interested in it
could be simply striking up a conversation with a stranger
the important thing is that it's something new and different to you often
when facing a new challenge our caveman brains will kick in and see potential
danger just breathe and smile and notice it for what it is a normal fear reflex
to uncertainty when you are engaging in that new activity
notice how your senses can be heightened and that your awareness of where you are
right now is slightly more resonant than usual after engaging in new fun things
it can be that we take a more liberating perspective into other aspects of our
life that are feeling a little bit stuck use this perspective to shake things up
who knows what will happen as a result the payoff a couple I know wanted to go
away for a weekend but didn't have the budget so instead they stayed in their
spare bedroom where they'd never slept for and just did touristy things in
their hometown they felt like they've had a complete break from the norm and
woke up to more possibility bringing new experiences into your life will make
autopilot struggle to take control as anything new create a more awakened
state in us by regularly breaking simple habits and trying something fresh you
will find it so much easier to be conscious and alive and therefore be
able to be more of yourself and live a more extraordinary life it's also
addictive in a good way just say no the insight to be in control of your life
you must be up to say No there are constant demands on our
time and our attention and unless we learn to manage them
we will drown we love to help people and often feel that we gain a great deal of
our purpose and meaning by doing so but if we're not there for ourselves how can
we be there for anyone else busyness feeds autopilot to be conscious we need
to find space and therefore we need to learn to say no often if we say yes to
something we are not fully committed to doing we subconsciously fuel in a
resentment we are not being authentic to ourselves in her best-selling book
rising strong shame and vulnerability research of bren Brown explains
compassionate people ask for what they need they say no when they need to and
when they say yes they mean it they're compassionate because their boundaries
keep them out of resentment it seems like a paradox agreeing to something
feels like you are being compassionate to another person but if it isn't
authentic it has quite the opposite effect of the plan each day this week
deliberately and consciously find something they would usually say yes to
but in this case say no don't do this out of spite or out of anger but do it
out of love for yourself choose something you would ordinarily find it
difficult to refuse but feel deep down it is right to do so
deliver your refusal with clarity and lightness it doesn't need great
explanation or justification keep it simple
saying no to an ingrained habits that people assume you will do every day can
be amazingly liberating if you always put the kids to bed maybe it's time you
didn't if you always make the office coffee run perhaps it's someone else's
turn if you always wash the dishes
maybe it's time to grab the dish towel instead when you have said no notice how
liberating it feels the payoff when we say no to a responsibility that we would
ordinarily accept we have to be conscious we're also building more time
into our lives so that we can be more awake when we say no it gives us space
to say yes to ourselves and to others with all our hearts and not through Duty
dance the insight I used to lead a team of the most extraordinary people most of
us have had moments when we have found ourselves surrounded by people who live
life to a higher standard and create magic beyond the norm and this was one
of mine when I tried to understand what it was that United the team my analysis
was found wanting the only thing I could find that everyone loved to do
especially one together was dance many studies have shown how great dances for
us not just physically but mentally emotionally and spiritually but frankly
you don't need to know the research as this is something nearly all of us have
personal experience of we know how good it feels when we put on just the right
tune and lose ourselves in dance with complete abandon dancing is life and is
a practice that unites all humanity of the plan this week find some time to get
your boogie on sure you can go clubbing or hit a party but weirdly there is
something also deeply satisfying about doing a strut and a wiggle on your own
find 10 minutes in your day choose a tune that makes you tingle
crank it to 10 and lay out some moves that bubble up from within caring not
one bits what anyone this ain't about looking good or being
cool this is about shaking it out for the hell of it the payoff to begin with
it may feel a little strange to dance on your own but once we overcome the
internal judgments and the little nagging voices in our heads it just
feels good where I am stuck and finding it hard to have fun because life feels
just a little too serious one of my best antidotes I know is to
put on some Sly and the Family Stone to show me the way and then my body has no
choice but to join in once you have mastered dancing on your own
behind-closed-doors feel free to break out some mu
spontaneously when the mood takes you add an hour to your day the insight one
of the most frequent comments I hear from people is they are not living the
lives they want because they don't have enough time it may be that they don't
read enough exercise in the way they'd like or practice the piano as often as
they should usually it is explained with doleful eyes that these things would
absolutely change their lives but they are too busy to integrate them into
their daily routines time has many definitions some controversial others
widely agreed upon relatively uncontroversial definitions our time is
what clocks measure and time is what keeps everything from happening at once
once we grasp the fact that time is a perception that we can control we
realize that when we don't have time to do something it's because it's not
important enough to us the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao tusu explains
time is a creative thing to say I don't have time is to say I don't want to the
plan this week let's find out exactly which hobbies or activities would really
make a difference to you in living an extraordinary life and
those which are just miss shapen dreams there is a little pain involved but I
think you'll find it will deliver multiples of pleasure for four days try
waking up an hour earlier and do one of those things that you wish you had time
for fully engage in that activity for 60 minutes and enjoy the fact that you're
stealing some time to do something that could fill your very soul you could
repeat the same activity for all four days or try a different one for each the
choice is yours the key to this is to make sure it's something you feel you
would love to do not just something you feel you ought to do the payoff at the
end of the week you will then be able to deduce whether what you've been doing is
something that you have to do in your life because you find it enjoyable and
fulfilling or whether it's not as important as an extra hours sleep in
which case you can take it off your list either way you will now be better
informed about what you truly need in your life excitement and gratitude the
insight it is common for us to find life a blur and to disconnect from the highs
and lows the pace of life and our divided attention all contribute to the
blending of our experiences to wake up we need to tune in to what is happening
to us every day excitement is part of our fuel and makes us feel more alive
gratitude has recently been researched extensively and has been shown to
improve both sleep and positivity as well as physical and psychological
health it's a one-stop-shop for getting us geared up to living a great life for
sure the plan each morning for a week when you wake up
write down three things happening that day that you are excited about perhaps
you are looking forward to catching up with a friend anticipating the next
chapter of a book you are enjoying have made time to hit the gym or even finally
have a chance to sit down with your boss and plan the next quarter each evening
write down three things that happened that day for which you feel grateful
take a moment to ponder the day and pull out the highlights did you have a proper
conversation with your daughter on the way to school or land a new piece of
business or wake up refreshed from a great night's sleep or find that old
mixtape the very best mixtape ever made ever or finally finish Infinite Jest for
some people sharing these lists with their loved ones helps accentuate the
emotions and makes the experience even more conscious try it and see for
yourself the payoff every day is unique and
special and every day can hold amazing experiences if we seek them out when
they all merge together it's hard for us to find those little nuggets of joy by
attuning ourselves to what we are excited by we increase the chances that
we will make them happen and will be energetically ready to actually be
excited gratitude is key to happiness and to
breaking us out of autopilot when we are grateful we naturally connect more to
ourselves to others and to the planet when we take things for granted we don't
have the same moments that jolt us into consciousness as each moment can feel
expected and too familiar gratitude by definition means appreciating the
uniqueness of our experience more deeply and is therefore emotive when it's felt
it creates a visceral reaction in us and helps us wake up with big smiles on our
faces 50 million dollars the insight people
often hold themselves back from achieving their dreams by making up
excuses if only I were taller prettier better at
math if I just could have gone to Harvard saw my house at the top of the
market got that promotion invested in snap Inc blah blah blah the truth is
that we have everything we need now within our grasp to make our lives
extraordinary however it is much easier to keep living the life that we lead now
and blame the circumstances than to step up and make the change because with any
change there's implicit risk and our caveman brains aren't too pleased with
that we therefore stay small and keep whining about our lives today we will
change that the plan I would like you to imagine that you have just won 50
million dollars you now have no limitations as to how you choose to
spend your life close your eyes take a deep breath and think about what it is
that you will do with your life now how will that money change you dream a
little and get lost in the fantasy our first impulses are often about where we
live in our houses our cars and our vacations but I want you to explore a
little beyond that as to how you would spend your days rather than your cash
when you have unlimited choice how do you want to pass your time what Joy's do
you bring into your life when everything is possible make a list of all the
things you would do don't hold back this is a time to dream the payoff
I often find when people carry out this exercise when they dig deeper into how
they want their quality of life to be they realize those things don't need 50
million dollars they can be achieved now one of my clients explained that his
dream would be to buy a farmhouse in Provence with an amazing view to go
there and write novels he then realized that his apartment already had an
amazing view and there was nothing to stop him from writing his first novel
immediately don't delay your dreams live them today and your autopilot will no
longer fill your brain with fantasy as your reality will be even better
the simplest pleasures are often the richest stare at the sky the inside the
sky is constantly changing and is a marvel when we stop to notice it most of
our lives are spent looking at our feet rather than the heavens
our vision tends to be locked on other people where we are walking the phones
in our hands so we miss what is above us most of the time we cannot comprehend
its fastness our universe is billions of years old and space is infinite just
think how many people have gazed up at the same sky since the dawn of time and
live such different lives from ours an expansive view helps us recalibrate from
the pace of life and reminds us who we are and where we are living the plan
find a nice spot outside where it's comfortable to lie down and spend ten
minutes just watching the sky there may be clouds that morph into shapes that
capture your imagination it may just be shades of blue that seem to stretch out
beyond your grasp it could be a night sky filled
with twinkles soak it up and notice where the experience takes you if you do
this regularly you'll start to notice the beauty of the heavens more
frequently the payoff we are so lucky to have such a humbling stimulus as the sky
above us every day when we remember to connect with it
it helps us overcome the amnesia so that we can truly wake up to our place in the
world it reminds us that we are part of something much much bigger that the
things that bother us are largely irrelevant and that our time should be
spent on what counts and not what can be counted live like a pig the insight I
always encourage people to mess with these exercises to make them work even
better for them in January 2016 thousands of people started cooking food
from scratch for a week as part of the great wake up project that inspired this
book with many having profound breakthroughs because of it one person
however said that because she always cooks from scratch for that week
she would do the opposite she ate fast food stuffing cans junk there was full
of refined sugar and preservatives interestingly she had one of the most
profound breakthroughs of all those taking part in the exercise as sometimes
having a severely negative experience jolts us back to the positive she felt
lethargic her skin became blotchy she was bloated she got headaches and she
got a really clear idea of why putting the right food into her body was worth
all the effort the plan this week rather counter-intuitively live like a pig eat
ready prepared meals live like a slob go on a bender two bottles of coke and a
bag of cheese puffs watch a whole box set
don't tidy the house in fact take the breaks off and live as if you just don't
care about today or about tomorrow do all those things that feel as if they
are below your usual standards for some that might mean eating a doughnuts for
others it would be getting up late dressing sloppily or having a beer at
lunchtime or all three relish dirty living and notice the
difference that it makes your level of consciousness do not attempt this
exercise if you have issues with drugs alcohol eating disorders or other
behavioral problems as a trip back into the darkness is probably not what you
need for everyone else live like a pig with full commitments until it repulses
you the payoff sometimes for us to be aware of how great every moment can be
we have to make our situation just a little bit worse when you talk to people
who have made profound life shifts for the better it is usually because life
just got so bad they couldn't possibly go on in that way for those of you who
enjoy the pig living a little too much imagine if this were how you lived your
life every day for the next 30 years how would you be then what would you stand
for what would you have made of life's gift a little journey to pigged him
ain't bad but her life there has implications far beyond saving time on
vacuuming pushing our standards below what we would usually consider
acceptable can help us reconnect with what's important to us and make sure
that in the future we never ever ever let those standards slip again because
when we do we are automatically playing into the hands of autopilot own it no
excuses the insight this life is yours and nobody else's
although at times it can feel as if life is conspiring against us the energy that
we put out into the world is the energy that we get back and therefore the life
that you are leading right now is a result of how you show up in the world
if everything seems hard and painful maybe it's because you aren't living
positively if everything around us seems flaky often it's because we aren't clear
enough about what we commit to in order to make our lives extraordinary if we
don't find enough love in our lives it's often because we don't love ourselves
enough regardless of the specifics of cause-and-effect how we are dictates
what we attract our world is our creation and not one that happens by
accident most events on this planet are far beyond our control but the way we
react to them is absolutely in our hands we can all choose how we respond to the
good the bad and the ugly and that choice will shape our quality of life we
should never try to make the world work to our own agenda but we should
constantly strive to use its lessons in a fruitful way the plan this week I want
you to own your life notice when things happen that create a negative reaction
in you notice when you make excuses to yourself or blame circumstances for the
fact that something is not quite perfect as you notice a negative emotion in your
body breathe into it so there is fully experienced then ask yourself what is it
that you are thinking that's making you react in a negative way I recommend
writing down whatever comes into your head ask yourself which of those
statements that you write down are absolutely correct
and which are simply excuses to feel sorry for yourself when you do this
you'll find that a lot of your arguments are not justified at all and therefore
it's easy to overcome the negativity if there are some things that are
irrefutable and still create a negative emotion ask yourself how you might
embrace this feeling rather than fight it after all if we can learn to love the
difficulties we will inevitably face then life becomes that much easier and
that much sweeter the payoff when we are in autopilot mode
we have a natural tendency to be negative
our survival instincts are prone to interpret everyday occurrences as
potential dangers and therefore we react to them in an animalistic way this is
one of the biggest drawbacks of autopilot it makes us see things as
black and white instead of rainbows and therefore deprives us of a great deal of
joy just by noticing when we have a negative reaction and taking a deep
breath and smiling we can escape the clutches of negativity more often by
becoming conscious of our internal processing and overcoming its triggers
we will find it so much easier to bounce back from negative experiences respond
and not react and therefore wake up for so much more of our day giggles and
Goethals the insight laughter is said to be the best medicine some people seem to
do it all the time while others give the impression that their face could never
crack a smile without them turning into dust those who laugh more deal with
stress better are healthier and attract more people into their lives when we
share a laugh we connect in a way that is quite unique something that is deep
and true hugely celebratory humor bridges are
divided like nothing else it is not selective by class or race by gender or
age by profession or stereotype there is a real human need to chuckle and when we
do so it unites us and makes everything feel ok other plan share a laugh today
you might tell a joke you might share a story that somehow tickles people and
helps them smile you can do anything at all that gets some laughter and spreads
a little lightness around your world if you're stuck the Internet is packed full
of giggle some things don't just watch them on your own it is important to
share the laughter with somebody else if you really want to push this then write
yourself a little routine and try it out at an open mic night there really is
nothing quite like a few minutes on stage to test your material and when it
goes well little else feels so sweet if that will seem to have a whelming then
just head to a comedy club with a friend and share a joke that way the payoff
tennis pro and Ray agassi's coach once told him that in life there are two
kinds of people there are thermometers who can read a room and there are
thermostats who can change it being able to change the atmosphere is a beautiful
gift to have and humor is one of the most fantastic lightning rods of change
most of us suffer from taking life too seriously because it's part of the human
condition when we are on autopilot when we laugh we pop out of that state and
wake up while also connecting with ourselves and those people laughing with
us the more we laugh the longer we live and the better every minute feels
smile the insight when we are taking life too seriously and we feel burdened
and heavy we often show it on our faces when we smile however we get lots of
benefits for no effort and no money smiling reduces stress and improves your
mood it makes you more creative more approachable and trustworthy it improves
your physiology on a cellular level in fact if you smile readily enough you can
rewire your brain to become more positive every day so smiling isn't just
for the moment but for a better life altogether so much of our time is spent
being transactional and feeling as if we are on our own yet we know that
meaningful human connection has a huge impact on happiness and overall
well-being research has shown that a smile can give people more pleasure than
sex shopping or eating chocolate in fact one smile can apparently give
people the same amount of stimulation as they would have from eating 2,000 bars
of chocolate or receiving $20,000 in cash how on earth do they measure this
stuff not bad for just cracking a smile the plan smile more today it's important
to start this exercise with a little playfulness smiling most certainly will
benefit you but part of the joy is infecting others with it to today make a
pact with yourself to try to make everybody you meet smile if you do this
with a friend you can get competitive on how much you touch others and you may
find you learn from their unique techniques and talents to help remind
you not to slip into old ways draw a smile on one of your hands so that when
you see it you are reminded to beam at all those around
you with great eye contact and generosity the payoff smiling not only
makes you feel better by releasing endorphins and reducing cortisol but it
also makes other people much warmer toward you and more inclined to connect
more deeply you'll feel good they'll feel good the world will be a brighter
place and you'll make some new friends it's simple but it works right or wrong
the insight we all have things were not proud of in our past
nobody leads such a perfect life that everything they do evokes unicorns and
sunflowers at times our actions cannot help but deliver gremlins and things
that go bump in the night it is perfectly natural when we look
back to cringe slightly at our past behavior and wish that maybe we had
played our hand differently regret is something that eats away at us an energy
that is heavy and repressive and yet it is so easy to shed the plan think about
a moments in your life when you regret how you behaved a time when for whatever
reason you did something that doesn't sit right with you today as you breathe
smile and remember the details the recollection they make you uncomfortable
but if you hold it it will eventually settle down you will start to see it for
what it was a mistake and nothing more try to connect the memory of that moment
and to whom it was that you feel you wronged as you do so open your heart and
send them unconditional love if you apologize now energetically you will
feel a large burden lifting now imagine having a conversation with them to put
things between you so that the regrets no
longer burns depending on who you are and your relationship with the person
that you have wronged you may well feel driven to pick up the phone now and set
things straight for real if you do so Bravo well done
for bringing reconciliation into play it takes bravery to admit you were wrong
and yet pays back in good vibes by the bucketload the payoff so often we carry
unnecessary energy around with us because a little hardship today seems
better than facing something that seems more painful in the past you cannot
predict how people will react to such acts of courage however what you can
guarantee is that if you do so with good intention the weight will be lifted from
your shoulders clearing up your past misdemeanors will help you live more
fully today even if you only do it in your imagination and not face-to-face
you can find quiet liberation do something big the insight when I ask
people who have led extraordinary lives what they have done to create such
enjoyable experiences they often reference big changes they have made to
their lives they may have moved abroad started a business learned an unusual
skill followed a passion thrown in the towel and started again regardless of
the detail they've ordered something large that had risk attached
interestingly they often didn't perceive what they were doing as risky but all
their friends did when you ask them why they made that big move the response is
usually that it just felt right and it was so damned exciting they just had to
jump those decisions are the ones that jolted them out of autopilot into a more
profit own way of living and help them to
remember that anything is possible the plan ponder what you might do that would
be an absolute game changer for your life
my biggest ones have been getting married having kids moving to the
seaside writing my first book and creating upping your Elvis a good friend
of mine has recently taken his kids out of school and gone to chemin e in France
for the ski season he tells me it's the biggest boost to his family life as well
as to his work as he is now invigorated fresh and full of new thinking for life
he is also no worse off since the income from renting out his home covered the
cost of his accommodation abroad what would your big thing be what could you
do that fills you with excitement and shows you are truly living your life and
not just fitting in with a system that encourages the insidious and gradual
creep of autopilot what is it that can help you remember that you are
extraordinary and everything is possible jot down those things that come to mind
that are scary exciting and yet somehow won't stop calling to you now what's
stopping you jump the payoff we don't always feel ready to do the big
stuff but lack of preparation is often just used as an excuse the time is never
perfect and we can never be absolutely prepared although all the experiments in
wakeup are designed to help counter the dreamlike States we find ourselves in
most days if you really want to jot your system do something big I quit my job
when I was 27 and went travelling it was amazing because everything was vibrant
exciting and new I will always know that it's very easy for me to pack a bag and
head off that option is always within my grasp so it was
worthwhile taking the plunge once you have set up one business you can set up
another once you have lived abroad the whole planet is a possibility once you
have picked up a new skill how you spend your time is limitless do something big
today and the vibrations will ripple on forever
I am ready guerilla gardening the insight how we could be boring
subconsciously there is a crushing pressure upon us to fit in and play
nicely the upside is we live in a polite society where at least on the surface we
all seem civil but the prices that we forget how fun this life should be I am
a massive fan of creating a little mischief especially when that mischief
can bring a smile to the faces of others guerilla gardening has been catching
people's imaginations and inspiring much spade work for decades it involves
provoking change by bringing nature to spaces where it doesn't exist such as an
inner city abandoned plot this isn't an altogether modern phenomenon its history
stretches back as far as a rebel horticulturist known as the digger in
Surrey in 1649 the key is that you don't have permission to plant and yet
whatever grows adds natural beauty to that space of course I am not condoning
vandalism or destruction guerilla gardening should always be carried out
responsibly using plants that are suitable for the sites with the aim of
making an improvement rather than creating a problem over the plan this
week will all become guerilla gardeners in our own little way we don't need to
create masterpieces like the famous Adam Purple's Garden of Eden which ended up
covering over 15,000 square feet in Manhattan we
just need to plant something somewhere surprising we can all find an empty
space that need some color be creative many sidewalks have patches of soil
around unloved trees just shouting out for a shot of green finery I like the
idea of planting seeds or bulbs that take a while to flourish as the
anticipation of knowing they will burst into bloom at some later unspecified
date is as much a joy as when they finally do but I know that for many
planters there is huge fun in putting something more substantial in the ground
the payoff when we feel slightly nervous and excited we often feel a little more
alive and while our guerilla gardening shouldn't really upset anyone it is for
sure a little bit naughty doing something fun
and frivolous can remind us that this life is supposed to be a party and not
something that should be hard arduous and troublesome I also get a kick out of
someone else noticing a splash of beauty in a place where strictly speaking it
shouldn't be maybe it will help them wake up to stay still and soak it up the
insight when we rush around we become part of the chaotic soup of existence
it's impossible to appreciate that soup when you are swimming in it
if however you step back and observe its motion the perspective helps you
remember how its ingredients combined we have numerous levels of awareness much
of our lives are spent feeling as if we are on our own and indeed we are purely
the person we see in the mirror every day when we are swept up in that soup it
reinforces the view that life should be are called fast and tricky equally most
of us are fully aware that there is more to us than just our physical bodies the
jobs we do and the lives we lead and that we are connected to something much
bigger stepping out of the soup can help us remember that the plan find 10
minutes in your day when you can sit quietly and observe the soup of
humankind swimming in busyness a classic way to observe would be sitting outside
a cafe watching the world go by Andy Warhol was a great observer of life and
soup perhaps this inspired his fascination with Campbell's soup cans
free countries are great because you can actually sit in someone else's space for
a while and pretend you are part of it you can sit in the Plaza Hotel and you
don't even have to live there you can just watch the people go by if the plaza
doesn't happen to be on the corner of your street you can try sitting on a
park bench noticing life going on around you or stand on a bridge over a river
and watch the activity within your field of vision do not distract yourself with
conversation or those little electronic devices just soak it all up and notice
how when you sit quietly and breathe you are in a very different energetic state
from the rest of the world that is flowing past you the payoff a few
moments in your day stepping back from the commotion is a great anchor in
obtaining consciousness and choice it may seem like an opulent indulgence but
for me it's the equivalent of meditation often people feel as if to calm the mind
they have to go inside but with this simple activity you'll find that the
busyness on the outside can produce the inner calm you desire neat and easy
and effective write a letter to someone you care about the insight the human
race is becoming ever more independent and isolated the number of us living on
our own continues to increase and social interaction is plummeting owing to the
increased physical separation of the digital age when Sir Tim berners-lee
invented the world wide web its mission was to serve humanity and connect not
just machines but people the Internet use wisely does
this and more like anything when we overuse it we create a problem for
ourselves analog mediums help ground us and reconnect us with our natural human
instincts we aren't spending enough time with the people who count and that often
means we are not talking about what's important Amy Winehouse had 10 million
likes on her Facebook page yet she died alone watching youtube
videos of herself that can't be right to be happy fulfilled and properly
connected to this planet we need to have meaningful relationships in our lives
the plan this week write a letter to somebody that you care about the letter
can be about anything at all as long as it includes one thing you truly
appreciate about that person you're writing to take your time letters are
written so rarely now it is right to luxuriate in experience and make each
word count when we write a letter we slow down time we first have to value
that communication and to clear some space to do it physically writing a
letter means that we connect more with what we are saying and then as we lick
the envelope seal it and take it to the mailbox there is an exquisite and
necessary delay in gratification these windows of time are luxurious
and worth rolling around in the payoff by taking the time to write to somebody
you care about you start to appreciate more of what it is that makes them
special and what it is they give to you by appreciating that you'll feel more
connected to them and will be more grateful they will also enjoy the
wonderful benefits of being cared for and acknowledged and it will help them
be more awake when they read it when you read a letter like that the day is
instantly more colorful the Tagalog word for unhappy is the same as lonely but
you don't have to come from the Philippines to understand why real
connections count it's what life is about my grandfather
only ever wrote me one letter I still have it why now the game of life used to
be all about achievement to win we had to follow the rules and a rather linear
path to success obviously we needed to flourish in school and we knew that a
well-rounded education created a well-rounded individual as a result
unique talents and left-field passions were suppressed so that we would all fit
in nicely and learn how to regurgitate facts beautifully with little
understanding of why they might be useful
we had to eradicate our weaknesses and then as an all-rounder we could proceed
through the multi-level educational system and be deposited on the other
side ready to join the world's workforce under that system careers were all about
progression your first job generally sucked and the rest of your working life
was spent trying to get a job that sucked a little less and paid a little
more we were conditioned to aspire to a life path of marriage mortgage
Parenthood and vague patience abroad while keeping up with
the Joneses once we deceived that our next project would be of course to
ensure that our children were raised to become well-rounded future members of
the world's workforce the board game of life was laid out before us we all knew
the rules and every year we'd roll the dice and see how far we'd move because
we knew where we were going we didn't have to think too much or indeed be
aware of alternative paths but that was then and this is now the days of the
linear life are ending our education system is failing and our children can
often learn more from YouTube than from their teachers a life where you only
have one job with a set salary is no longer the norm for many there is an
awareness that achieving more earning more owning more and consuming more will
only take us into oblivion we have to start living every day well if we are to
honor the precious life that we are guardians of escaping autopilot means
that we can truly be who we are and challenge the norms from which we can
now all break free time is limited let's not waste it and soon we will die the
insight I once read that life is short and life is long but not in that order
it does resonate with me as when I was younger I felt that my life time was
almost infinite as it stretched into the future I was invincible and everything
was a possibility I felt there was no rush or panic to use my time well as I
possessed it in abundance and therefore a day on the sofa recovering from
excesses seemed nothing more than a little pit stop nowadays my
responsibility have grown and my time has become more
pressured so it would seem the years pass faster so fast that it can feel as
if life is purely about busyness rather than truly living autopilot loves it
when we have too much going on because we have no choice but to engage in it
just to cope without day to day activity when we consider that we don't have that
many days on this planet twenty-eight thousand seven hundred and sixty-two on
average in the US and around a third of those are spent at work it can help us
remember that each day is precious and that each one has to count the plan sit
quietly somewhere you have a view of the ground and the sky take a deep breath
and then ponder that your death is inevitable it may not be for a hundred
years with the amazing advances of technology but equally it could be in a
hundred days or a hundred seconds because that's the way the dice roll
with that in mind what should you be doing today that would make it a great
day it may not be an action or an activity or a thing that you need to
achieve it may very well be how you are and what you appreciate we only have so
many conversations with our loved ones how can today's count we only drink so
many cups of tea how can we really enjoy this one we only take so many walks why
is today's special the payoff David Bowie was one of my heroes
he died at 69 did someone you know or admired died young it may not happen to
you but it could if I were to mirror Bowie that would give me another 21
years that probably means another 10 years
of working full-on and that probably means I will write only three more books
that kind of thinking is a real eye-opener
it makes me realize I should probably be dicking around a hell of a lot more and
loving every second and it certainly means I should be spending more time
with my family properly connected and rolling around in the joy of it
useful perspective I was recently asked about my ambition and I realized that it
was no longer about achieving more becoming better and all that striving
for greatness but it was about living well today by remembering that we are
not here for an infinite number of days maybe we can all do that bit better by
spending those that we do have more awake wakey-wakey every day on this
planet should be extraordinary not in a ticker-tape parade high-fiving
whoopty-doo type way but in an enjoying being alive for what it is kind of way
each one of these exercises has been fun for me and in writing this book and
trying them out I've discovered that the exercises in themselves are not the
lesson rather by trying these different things and having a good laugh in doing
so I have remembered what it is about life that I love so much we have
unlimited opportunities for fun we have unlimited opportunities to meet amazing
people we have unlimited opportunities to feel truly awake every single day and
I believe that when you value that and you have connected to that belief
sufficiently deeply you will never let a day go by without tasting it I am now
committed to keep experimenting for the rest of my days and I hope that you will
come along on that journey with me my dream is that like-minded people will
share their experiments with us all so that together we
try new and different ways of waking up there are absolutely no rules to how
this works readers have bent broken and reinvented these exercises hundreds of
times already and each incarnation brings a unique benefit when we get
creative and help others tap into that genius we can only get better at
breaking away from autopilot and learning more deeply so I hope you'll be
part of the community that takes on that mantle and keeps alive what I have
started there is nothing sacred about this book beyond its attitude I believe
that we all have the opportunity to be amazing and to lead lives of legend if
we embrace the energy of what is written in this book we have a much greater
chance to have a grin on our face and a skip in our step if enough of us do this
everyday and truly wake up this world will not only spin just a little bit
better but it will also start to right its wrongs and value life the way it
should be valued if you want to plug in to the extraordinary and the Technicolor
and don't want to waste another minute of this most amazing time that we are
here on this planet then wake up thank you for watching this video my
friends I hope you really enjoyed it make sure you leave a comment below and
please subscribe to this channel I want to give you so much more thank you and
I'll see you next time Wake Up!: A Handbook to Living in the Here and Now54 Playful Strategies to Help You Snap Out of Autopilot (Full Audiobook).
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