The Universal Mind

 

I remember back in 2006, when my life was crashing around me, I snatched a few paragraphs of The Secret before that fateful meeting which sealed my bankruptcy. That short reading started me on the journey of ‘self development’, during which I studied a myriad of books, followed the wisdom of many leaders and completely bought into the concept of the universal mind/ intelligence/ cosmic energy, call it what you will.

In all cases, the teachings distilled into me being able to find the right way through life, through consulting with my inner self. However, something wasn’t quite right. As hard as I tried, I found that my own guidance, despite the many hours of meditation and soul searching was flawed. I kept asking the cosmic intelligence for guidance and wisdom but try as I might, no messages were getting through and my faith in humanism, for I now know that’s what it is, was not enough.

I wanted to meet genuine people, who were far more interested in me that the contents of my wallet (well, credit cards, if I’m honest) and I decided that the one place I hadn’t been in for almost thirty years was a Church. So, one Sunday, I ventured in and the penny dropped.

All my self development and belief in humanism was leading me to this one place. The universal mind and cosmic intelligence were all very true and always there, but the ‘elephant in the room’ so to speak was that its identity was God, the creator of all things. I replaced my meditation to a nefarious concept with prayer to a very real God, in fact the one and only God.

I started to hear that voice of wisdom and knowledge and feel real love from him and the congregation of the Church who he works through.

I know that some will read this, laugh and scoff and perhaps come back with some supposedly witty comments. Others may read this and may want to know more and for a few, that penny that dropped for me will immediately drop for them. Any of those outcomes are fine with me. I know where my heart lies.

Christmas Musings

Something very thought provoking happened to me on Boxing Day. I was cycling to our local shopping centre at about 10 am and as I passed the first pedestrian that morning, she greeted me with a very cheery "Hello". I returned the greeting and thought nothing of it until the next person I passed, also smiled and wished me a good morning.

Nothing eventful happened in the shop I visited but on my return, I passed three other people and all of them greeted me with a smile and a hello. Now, I'm not sure if this is unusual in the parts of the world in which you live; however, where I live, it is.

Normally, each morning I walk or cycle and pass 10 to 20 people and although I greet most of them as I pass, I very seldom hear anything in return. That doesn't particulalrly bother me; I realise that they are wrapped in their own world and their own thoughts. I also know that two of the people that greeted me on Boxing Day are people that I often see on a daily basis and never as much as mutter at me.

So, what is different? I am a very spritual and reasonably religious person and so for me, Christmas still maintains it's biblical significance but I'm sure that is not the case for many. For them, it is a holiday and this particular year, it is a good long one for a lot of people.

After much thinking about this, the conclusion I drew was that, at this time, those same people who are normally too worried about rushing this way and that for their work had been able to relax. They were actually in control of their day. They had obviously wanted to go out for a particular reason and were therefore in control of their actions.

I further concluded tha this could mean that, for the other 45 + weeks of the year, they did not feel in control of their situations. I surmised that life was probably in control of them and they felt powerless alter that. Therefore, their outlook was likely to be pretty miserable, as anyone would be when someone or something else is pulling their strings.

This realisation made me really sad but I also remembered back to when I thought that way; that was a long time ago but i can still remember the daily anger I felt when nothing seemed to go right for me.

So, what changed for me? I still work, I have teenage kids like most and I don't have millions of pounds in my wallet or bank account. However, I know now that I am in control of my life and my destiny.

I have goals I wish to achieve that are in line with my values and beliefs and every day, I am taking small steps towards them. of course there are setbacks, disappointments and times when nothing has appeared to go as I wished. However, I am also aware of those things I can change. I take responsibilty for those seemingly uncontrollable events because I know there was probably something I did or didn't do that led to that happening.

This realisation, learning to control and taking responsibility has all come about from life Coaching. That is what I now do. We help people to discover what they want form life; we help people to set their own plans for working toward those goals and we help people to realise that they are responsible for their life; and with that realisation comes their freedom to know that they can change what is happeneing to them.

Everyone has something they want to strive for, even if they are unaware of it and some will reach those goals themselves; however, our task is to help the person find those goals and help that person accelerate the process of thier attainment.

I wish you all a fantastic New Year and if you would like help to take control of your life, please just email me at tannermark@rocketmail.com. I would love to help you.

Have a great day,

Mark.

Life Coaching

It has been a fantastic road so far in my pursuit of my Life Coaching diploma. It has especially led me to take stock of my own values and beliefs and actually find those that I had never really uncovered until now.

I have been coaching several clients who have also had the same 'aha' moments, when they suddenly realise what has been holding them back. This has really helped to them to make the necessary (and in some cases quite small) adjustments that has then enabled them to improve their relationships, get that pay rise they were looking for or just enabled them to find ways to actually enjoy the life they are living.

It has proven to me that nearly everyone does want to achieve more, even if though they are actually unaware of it; it has also proved to me that everyone can benefit from Life Coaching.

There is still a popular myth that is floating around that Life Coaches will tell you how to run your life. Nothing can be further from the truth; Life Coaching is all about enabling you to live your life and attain those things that you desire. We just help you to determine what it is you want to achieve and then act as a catalyst to accelerate the process of its attainment.

We do not have our own agendas that we wish to instill in our unfortunate victims. Why would we? You set your own agenda and you work at your own pace.

So, if you feel you could benefit from Life Coaching, why not drop me a line? I would love to talk further with you. After all, your success is my business.

email me on tannermark@rocketmail.com. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Have an excellent day,

Mark.

Goal Setting

Many a book, CD, Blog and article has been written about goals and goal setting. We hear or read about SMART goals that must be Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Realistic and Time bound; we are told that goals that are not written down are just dreams or wishful thinking. This is all absolutley true.

However, there are still only a limted number of people who set goals (and in my perception, that number is growing) but there is also only a limited number of those people who stick to them and achieve them; so, why is that?

Values

Well, one of the first reasons may be is that when some people set goals, those goals are not relevant to their personal values. For example, if one of your values is spending time with your family, then a goal for a promotion or training that is going to take you away travelling all over the world and never seeing them is not in line with that value. Achieving this would not make you a happy bunny and happinness may be another one of your goals.

One of the processes you must do before you set goals is to take an inventory of your values. What do you like, how do you like living, what is important to you etc.


Then, during the act of making goals, you can then check your values to ensure that those goals will work in line with your values.

Beliefs

Similar to values, your goals must be in line with your beliefs. If your belief is that you need to take responsibilty for reducing the human carbon footprint to zero, setting a goal to own an oil company may not sit well with those beliefs and may be discarded after a short time.

There are many other reasons that you may not keep to or achieve your goals and this is where a Life Coach may help but that is for another time.

However, if you do not have an inventory of your values and beliefs that stand up to your own scrutiny, you may find that the goal you set may not actually be yours but one that just sounded good at the time.


As always, have a great day and make sure that every day, you are making at least a small step to achieve your goals.


Mark.





 

Belief is a Wonderful thing

I have just witnessed a very sad event. I was waiting in a garage forecourt to put some fuel in my car, when a very beat up old red car pulled up behind me. He had actually just reversed out of one queue, (these queues were only one or two cars each), and driven behind me. he obviously  thought that I had magical qualities that would make my queue disapper more quickly.

Anyway, the pump in front of me becomes free so up I drive next to it. Meanwhile, Mr Red (that's what we'll call him), deciding I was too slow, reversed and joined another queue . It seems that he though he might end up one pump ahead of me. Well, I fill up my tank, (only about 3 minutes) and walk off to the kiosk to pay me debt to society.

As I walk out, Mr Red is now reversing into the bay ahead of me, in the wrong direction, deternined to get to the top of  the line. I asked, very civilly as i normally do, not to box me in and wait 30 seconds for me to leave. 

He gives me a kind of look that to wither oak trees from one hundred paces BUT, does move his car forward just enough, for me to squeeze my very modest Peugeot through the gap.

I looked in my rear view mirror directly afterwards and lo and behold, a two car shad driven up behind him the right way and the taken both the space I had left and the second empty space that Mr Red had decided was his.

So, what are the lessons that can be learnt from this little episode?

The first is patience; once you have set your mind on a goal, your mind will start finding ways of helping you achieve this. Spend time everyday to quieten yourself and that voice is invaluable. However, have patience; not all goals will be reached immediately.

Two; don't set a goal and then decide that is not the right one for you and quickly change to another. Only then to find that actually, that is not right either and maybe the original goal was OK; then again, maybe you need to find a third goal etc. etc. What actually happens is you never build up any focus, instead lots of targets start flying around your head and you actually achieve none of them. Like Mr Red, you actaully end up being more frustrated because in your eagerness to get ahead by changing goals, you have actually let those who came after you to now be ahead of you.

Thirdly; believe. If you take the time to think really hard about the goal you set and write down, you then commit yourself to that goal. If you have many, (as most people do), you MUST prioritise one that you wish to achieve first. Once you have committed yourself and focused on that one goal, you must believe that you will achieve it. 

When you first set that goal, that may seem impossible to you; however, believe that if you let your mind work on it, that magical subconscious will start working on it and provide solutions for you to achieve that, if you listen to it. 

That belief in yourself and your subconscious is paramount; it will find a way where your conscious mind won't. It is wonderful thing you are a wonderful being; so work with it.

As for Mr. Red? I'm expecting to read an a report in the local rag any minute about 'forecourt rage'.

Have a fantastic day,


Mark

Harmony

If, like me, you are an avid reader and listener of self development books and audios, you will have heard about the concept of the universal mind, that 'thoughts are things' and you become what you think about most of the time. 

 All very true and for those doubters, has actually been proved by living examples many times over. as this is fact, I will not be debating that here. However, many times we are told that, to be able to use this universal mind and start to manifest those things we desire, our thoughts need to be harmonious with this mind. So, what are harmonious thoughts?


It appears to be complicated but actually, it is very simple. The best way to tell is to stop what you are doing now and take just a few minutes to concentrate on how you are feeling. Do you have a scowl on your face? Are you looking at your mountainous work load and groaning with dismay? Are you running around like a ball in a pinball machine, bouncing from one bumper to another? (Sorry, I'm showing my age and a mis-spent youth with that question)! 

If yes to all or some of those then you really know the answer; you're feeling a little jaded to say the least. So, change that scowl to a smile; assess your workload and know that you will do your best to work through it, as you can't do more than that; stop running around just for a few moments, take a few deeps breaths and maybe sit down for a moment.


There are many techniques to change your mood, which I can talk about another day, so use these to change your mood to a happy mood. if it doesn't happen immediately, take another quick break in a few minutes and work on it again.


The point is, when you srat to feel happy, you are in harmony with the univeral mind. Happiness is not just a luxury, it is a attribute that everyone should have and enjoy. Being happy puts your mind in harmny with the universal mind. If you start to think, that message has been around for eons. 'Happy thoughts' and 'Don't worry, be happy' are just a couple that immediately spring to mind but I'm sure you can think of your own examples.

So, make yourself happy; it's within your power to do so and once you start, it becomes an easy to do. When your happy, you are in harmony with the universe. When you're in harmony with the universe, amazing thing can start to happen. 

Have a brilliant day and smile.

Thanks for reading,

Mark. 

Songs in the Key of Life?

Thanks to Stevie Wonder for that great title; there are two great 'pop' songs that, when you listen and think on the lyrics, really slam me in the face about how we should live. (I'm sure there are many more but these are the ones for me).


The first is 'Beautiful' by Carole King. The first two lines of the chorus: 
"You've got to every morning with a smile on your face
and show the world, all the love in your heart."


Just do this every morning and I promise your day will be fabulous. Yes, I know there are times when you wake up and for whatever reason, you feel pretty lousy; however, you can still force yourself to smile. Stand in front of the mirror and give yourself a beaming smile for 30 seconds. You will elevate your mood and then actually feel like smiling the whole day.


The second is 'All You Need is Love' by The Beatles. Lines like:
"There's nothing you can do that can't de done;
There's nothing you can sing that can't be sung;
There's nothing you can make that can't be made."


Just these three lines tell me that, if I can imagine myself being someone, creating something or achieveing something, I am able to make it happen. 


"Whatever your mind can conceive and belive, it can achieve" Napoloen Hill.


Imaginatiion is the key; if you can imagine a path to take and how you would feel if you were a (fill in the blank), if you can really 'see' yourself there, then with firm belief you can make it happen.


No-one ever created anything without 'seeing' it completed first.


Have a fantastic day,


Mark

PS. both songs are on YouTube; go and have a listen. You may find many more with the same message.