The Power of Intention - Be Clear About What You Focus On

No Limits | The Freedom Blog™

The Power of Intention…. Be Clear About What You Focus On

Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com

“We tend to get what we expect”

Norman Vincent Peale

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

 Albert Einstein

In most cultures we are taught that we are separate from each other and from everything else, that everything in the world is outside of us.

But this isn't true. Everything is inside of us. We create our reality. The people, things, conditions and circumstances of our life are a reality that we ourselves have created.

It is a match for what we currently feel is “right” for us. What we think it should be.

Whatever it is, good or bad, comfortable or grim, it is what we feel we should have.  A lot of this is the result of being conditioned by our culture so that what we perceive is familiar and safe. 

But our perception is our reality. What you think you are seeing is actually an interpretation of your mind’s “idea” or its “understanding” of what it is seeing. I talk about this in my article Is Seeing Believing?

So if you create your reality, how do you bring about the changes you want into your life? How do you change your circumstances?

Most people talk about manifesting and visualizing but it's a bit more complicated than that. I think vision boards and other visualization techniques only reaffirm that you don’t have what you want, that the thing or new circumstance you desire is separate from your reality.

Just the fact of saying that you want something confirms that you don’t have it. 

So it is not so simple to make things happen this way, your limiting beliefs get in the way. 

Limiting beliefs hold us all back but I believe the Power of Intention comes from a purer place. It seems to be more connected to your inner self and maybe because of that it seems to over ride limiting beliefs. 

Although we will always need to work on releasing our limiting beliefs.

What do you do?

You have to understand the power of Intention.

Having an intention about something is not the same as trying to manifest it or create it by drawing it to you.

It doesn't matter how hard you desire something or wish it to be true, if you aren't in alignment with your unconscious beliefs about that thing, it won’t happen. If any limiting beliefs are hiding in there, they cancel out the process.

This is why so many people have a negative opinion of the Law of Attraction. They are not really clear about what they do want. They are probably more focused subconsciously on  the fact that they don’t have it and this clouds the picture.

Sometimes understanding what you don’t want is necessary to get clear about what you do want.

But many people skip that step. They just aren't clear about what they really want.

So anyone wanting or desiring something and hoping that they can attract it by visualizing or seeing pictures of it is missing an important step.

Usually wanting some physical object like a new car or new house is the most problematic because there are so many underlying thoughts or snags that go along with it, aspects that aren't really in alignment with you getting a new car or house.

Like: Why do you really want it? Do you really need it? Do you really think you should have it?

It’s a pretty big request and there is probably a large amount of doubt floating around in this equation. And no matter how hard you try to convince yourself, any doubt will stop everything.

And wanting a new car or new home or things, to me, is a bit disconnected. It could seem hollow.

I’m not saying wanting these things is wrong or bad.

It just seems to me that a new car or house would be part of a larger package, part of a financial shift in your life.

A shift that could bring you any car or house you wanted.  

So maybe you need to think BIGGER!

Focus your Intention on a bigger picture. Instead of things, think of situations or circumstances. New situations that resonate with you, that get you excited. Don’t think about money, things or position, think of the bigger picture- abundance, creativity, helping others.

To begin the process, you first need to accept that you are the creator of your life and you have to take responsibility for everything in your life now. That means everything, the good, bad and everything in between.

The next step is to be thankful for what you have right now. I mean really thankful.

Appreciate it. Appreciation is very powerful.

The third step is to begin imagining the life or circumstances you do want. Again, if necessary, by first getting clear about what you don’t want, clearing away the weeds so to speak, and thus allowing you to see and create the picture of how you do want it.

Don’t let yourself get caught up complaining or begrudging your bad luck or life’s curve balls.

Remember, you created this. If you don’t like it, change it.

Once you have a picture of what you desire, are you sure it’s what you really want?

How does it look?

Most important: How does it feel?

Feeling is the key. You will always know if something is right by the way it feels. Feels good-it’s right, feels bad-it’s not. So go back to the thought that gives the good feeling. It will realign you and lift you back up.

Continue to connect with the feeling of the new desired situation or circumstance.

That is where you want to go to remind yourself and reconnect. The more you feel the feeling, the more connected you will be to your desired outcome. It will get stronger.

Remember:

1.       Accept that you are the creator of your life.

2.      Take responsibility for everything in your life.

3.      Be thankful and appreciate what you have.

4.      Get clear on what you want. If necessary by first being clear on what you don’t want.

5.      Set a clear intention. Visualize what you intend. See it and then feel it.

6.      Wash, rinse, repeat.

This is a process. Your Intention sets the process in motion. You will need to take action but you don’t need to worry about the how, what or where.

Just stay with the feeling and you’ll know what to do.

 

www.stevengriggs.com

The Fear Bunker

No Limits | The Freedom Blog™

The Fear Bunker

Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.”

Yoda

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

I've come to understand that fear is the mother of all limiting beliefs. All limiting beliefs, no matter what you call them- insecurity, low self-esteem, sabotaging success, are all just extensions of fear.

“I’m not smart enough”, “I don’t have enough education”, “I’m not that talented”, “She’s much more attractive than I am”….. .

Fear. It’s always fear.

I was having a conversation about fear with some family members at a graduation get together the other day.

We were talking about going through tough times and how during those times it seemed that negative things just keep piling up on you.

I was saying that there have been times when I felt under siege, like I was living in the Führer bunker.

My mother said "Oh, you were living in the fear bunker"?

She really didn't hear me correctly but I said yes! Exactly!

I was in the Fear Bunker!

That's what it really was- a fear bunker.

I was hiding out in my bunker.

But I wasn't really hiding or barricading myself in anywhere. I was still living my normal day to day existence. But I was definitely in fear mode and when fear takes over, things change.

Because circumstances can change and sometimes very quickly: you lose your job, you breakup with your mate, you have financial problems, you owe money you can’t pay. These are all things that most, if not all of us, have been through.

But when you are living in fear, negative things seem to expand and increase. Bad news seems to find you. And you find yourself pin balling from one negative thing to the next.

After a while you begin to feel beat up. It’s no wonder that we batten down the hatches and move into the bunker.

Fear contracts you. It shuts you down. You pull in. You are in retreat, in survival mode.

You are consolidating, not stretching out.

This is a non- creative state. You are no longer open and looking out, you are afraid and looking over your shoulder.

In some ways living in fear can be very deceptive because it can become comfortable, 
because sometimes living with problems is easier than living with solutions.  

Don’t we all know someone who lives in constant chaos, who is constantly up to their eyeballs in problems and seems pretty happy about it?

But you can't win battles by being in constant retreat. You have to re-enter the fray at some point. 

Yes, there is a time for retreat, a time for regrouping, for consolidating.

But only for a time.

And then enough is enough.

You reach your end.

You begin to remember who you are, that this isn't the real you. It doesn't matter if you allowed yourself to become a victim for a while. It was a step.

The point is you remember. You stop. You stand up.

You remember that there is nothing anyone can really do to you.

You remember that 80% of the things you are worried about don’t happen and the 20% that do aren't as bad as you thought.

And really, what’s the worst thing that could happen?

Lose all your money? You can make more.

Lose your home? You can find another.

Lose your job? Find another way to make money.

Creditors chasing you? Change your phone numbers. You can deal with them later.

It's an individual thing. We each know when we've reached the end of our penance, when our time of retrenchment is over.

So come up out of your bunker and smell the fresh air.

It’s time to start making a plan.

 

www.stevengriggs.com

Who Do You See When You Look In The Mirror

No Limits | The Freedom Blog™

Who Do You See When You Look In The Mirror?

Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com

“People want to be in their own fashion tribes, so they want to wear the same clothes to be connected to everyone else in that tribe. But they want to be different from other tribes.”

Christian Lacroix

“What tribes are, is a very simple concept that goes back 50 million years. It's about leading and connecting people and ideas. And it's something that people have wanted forever.”                                                                                              Seth Godin

Who are you? What message are you projecting out to the world? Did you even think you were projecting a message?

Maybe you are not consciously trying but by not trying to you are still sending a message.

Who are you trying to notify? What information are you trying to present?

It’s all about presentation, how we present ourselves helps notify others about who we are. It helps them see what we believe and where we stand.

It’s a warning and a beacon. One glance around and you know exactly where you are and where you stand.

But the bottom line is that we do it because we all just want to belong.

If you were a new visitor to our planet, you would see that we are all basically wearing costumes.

Your clothes, your shoes, your hair or makeup, everything you are presenting on your body says something about you.

Your costume identifies your tribe. Or in the case of Amazon Indians, your hair and your tattoos.

The motive here is to show other tribe members you belong to their tribe and at the same time show everyone else that you are not a member of theirs.

Our costumes are really more about exclusion than inclusion.

Sometimes people are a little in your face in their efforts to emphasize that they are not a part of your tribe.

But it’s all just an effort to belong, especially in younger people. It’s almost a requirement. They need to break away from their parents, from the establishment, to show their independence.

And that sometimes requires drastic action to make the right statement.

They use bright hair colors and drastic styles, tattoos, logo wear and clothes, piercings, etc. to make their point. They use shock and horror as a tool.

I think we have all been there once upon a time. Maybe some of us were more drastic than others.

I know I was.

I was 14 in 1964. I was in a band. I grew up at Lake Tahoe and hitchhiked to spend weekends in San Francisco in the Haight Ashbury district. What do you think I was doing? How do you think I looked?

Talk about shock and horror. I freaked my family out!

At least for a minute but then my family is a bit eccentric. Take a look at my mother (Google "Granny G". She was a finalist on America's Got Talent.

But it’s just a period of transition, a transitioning out of one phase into another. Some phases take longer than others and some phases can become almost permanent. I’m sure you know people who are locked into a phase.

Does it matter? I don’t think so.

But think of all the tribes that you can immediately identify. You can see them everywhere, every day.

For example, look at biker clubs.

I was at a rally the other day where my friend's band was playing (I was the roadie and part time singer) and there were about 5 or 6 biker clubs there. For me it was very interesting to see the hierarchy being displayed. With the tattoos, the bandannas, the leather, the patches, the prospects trying hard to belong, to earn their full patch. You can see the whole process of belonging in action.

I have no problem with bikers, I get it. I like bikes. My best friend from childhood has been a Hell’s Angel since the sixties. He’s probably one of the few remaining Outlaws alive from the early days of the club.

But they’re tribes.

Looking from the outside, although we may not really get how unique it is when several million kids throughout America are dressed the same way, we understand.

We can see how the need to be accepted by a group of like souls is so important.

It’s important to belong, to gain confidence and become more solid. To begin to become who you are.

It takes steps, phases and tribes.

Because it doesn't stop when you leave one tribe behind, you just become part of another tribe.

And so it goes.

www.stevengriggs.com

Stuart Wilde

No Limits | The Freedom Blog™

Stuart Wilde, 1946-2013

Written by Steven Griggs | www.stevengriggs.com

For those of you who may not know who Stuart Wilde was, go to Wikipedia or Google him. He was a force to be reckoned with. He was a creator, speaker and writer who wrote over 20 books, countless audios, CD’s and DVD’s.

His books were bestsellers: Whispering Winds of Change, Miracles, The Force, The Quickening, Affirmations, The Secrets of Life, and The Trick To Money Is Having Some!, Life Was Never Meant to be a Struggle. He toured with Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer.

Stuart said: “I am a bit of a spiritual anarchist. I am very sort of, in your face. I'm not for the institutions. I'm pro the individual. I don't care much for bull ****.”

I first met Stuart in May of 1999, 14 years ago this week. Stuart had come into my life at a crucial juncture several years before but of course that’s the way it usually works- it  takes some kind of crisis to wake you up.

I had just gone through a painful breakup and was struggling with the many surprises and revelations my wife had left me to deal with, in addition to caring for our children.

I was a bit lost, no actually I was very lost and I felt like I had been living a lie. Well, not so much a lie, maybe more like a big fib. But either way I was way out of balance and I was drinking and partying way too much. I was not in any way solid or in alignment with who I knew I was.

Then somehow I got turned on to Stuart. I started reading and listening. I had Stuart’s tapes and then his CD’s in my car at all times. My daughter used to know some of his passages by heart!  

But after a while I started getting it. I started becoming clearer. Bit by bit I started pulling myself out of the darkness.

I kept reading and listening and soon started following him on his website. 

With Stuart on Loch Dan in Ireland, May 1999.
(That's me directly behind Stuart)

By this time Stuart had stopped doing seminars and conferences and had pulled back from making too many appearances.

In spite of this I still wanted to find a way to connect with him, so I waited to see if he was going to speak anywhere or make any appearances. I monitored the website and waited, hoping my chance would come. 

But it didn’t come. At least not right away.

Then a year or so later, I saw a notice on the website. Ten people were being invited to meet with Stuart and spend two weeks with him. There was no date, no itinerary.

Just a sign up page.

It was first come, first served to the first 10 people who would commit to meet Stuart.

Of course I jumped at the chance. I signed up immediately and paid for my spot.

And then I waited.

I was told that I would be contacted and given a time and a place to meet Stuart. It could be anywhere in the world and I could not be late. If I was late he would not wait and I would miss my chance.

A while later I received the email: I was to meet Stuart in 5 days, at a certain time, at a certain hotel in London.

Needless to say I booked a flight to Europe and showed up at the hotel on time. There were two other people waiting.

A little bit later at the appointed time a van pulled up and there was Stuart!

I have such great memories of that trip. We went somewhere special and amazing every day, Stonehenge, crop circles, Celtic temples, ley lines. We cruised over to Ireland and camped in Yurts on Loch Dan (the Excalibur lake). It was amazing!

Not that it was necessary to go anywhere because just hanging out with Stuie was so much fun.

I really connected with him. He called me Stevie.

We would talk and he told me amazing things about myself and my personal journey. He talked to me about personal things that he couldn’t have known about.

But he did.

It was an amazing time and it changed me.

Someday I’ll write more about those experiences.

So I was shocked to hear of his passing and I have thought about him every day since then, not that I didn’t think about him most days….. . I was planning on catching up with him on one of his walking trips in London or Las Vegas.

But that didn’t happen.

Stuie was so much fun, so irreverent, and so knowledgeable about so many things. He radiated love and connection and lightness. He didn’t care one iota about what people thought about him. He was oblivious to all that.

He was also a people magnet. People loved him. They would travel out to wherever we were staying just to hang out with him for the day. On that trip I met Belinda Carlisle, her husband Morgan Mason, and John Hurt and I’m sure there were some others. 

He showed me the way and because of him, I am who I am today.

I am thankful and I loved Stuart.

Stuie, good on ya bro. We’ll meet again.

www.stevengriggs.com

It's Always One of Two Answers

No Limits | The Freedom Blog™

It’s Always One of Two Answers

Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com

“For every complex problem there is answer that is clear, simple and wrong.”                                                                                                                                H.L. Mencken

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”

William S. Burroughs

                                                                                                                                  

Questions and answers.

We spend so much time caught up trying to find answers to questions. Every time a question comes up that requires an answer we put ourselves through a huge series of mental gymnastics.

We run all kinds of scenarios. If I do this, what will happen? If I do that, what will happen? We go through endless exercises playing out the consequences of each answer. And whenever we ask another question it starts the cycle over again.

The problem is that the questions and answers begin to overlap. This causes a massive traffic jam in our minds and leads to confusion.

The confusion begins to build and then more questions get thrown into the soup and now where are you?

Fairly quickly your mind becomes gridlocked and starts to shut down. It just becomes too much.

What do you do?

Years ago I learned from my teacher Stuart Wilde, that there are just two answers to every question: Yes or no. They will or they won’t. It will work or it won’t.

No need for a long analysis of potential scenarios. Just keep it simple and basic- yes or no.

It really is that simple if you think about it.

There is no point in searching out possibilities or outcomes.

But we still do because we are conditioned with a need to know and therefore we try to control outcomes.

But we can’t.

So when a question comes up, it’s yes or no. Then you respond to the next situation. If you can, you will, if you can’t, then you won’t. And so on.

No problem, short and sweet.

I used to be very forward thinking. I tried to anticipate every possible outcome and think three or four steps down the road for each outcome. I used to think it was strategic thinking.

But what it really was, was exhausting.

I would find myself stretched way out into the future trying to come up with ideas or deciding what steps I would need to take to accomplish a goal. It was hopeless.

Sometimes I planned for goals that weren't even a goal yet!

But I eventually changed the way I was thinking. Now when I see a task that I need to do in the future, I still watch myself as I start to future think and plan, “What am I going to do about that?” “How will I get ready for this?”

But I stop. I don’t plan and I don’t worry.

Now I tell myself I will think about that when I sit down to actually start that task. And then I stop thinking about it.

I have learned to trust that I will know what to do when I need to do it. The answers will come. I trust that my creative side will come up with ideas.

And it always does. It’s really fun.

And so much easier.

It is amazing what powers we have. 

Every answer is already in your mind. Every answer to every question.

You can solve every problem and answer every question if you will just let go, relax, and let it flow.

Listen to your quiet voice. It already knows.

You can’t find answers if your mind is clogged and burdened with multiple programs all running at the same time. Questions, questions……… What to do? What now?

So stop it.

It just doesn’t work. Let go.

Like Scarlet O’Hara says in “Gone With The Wind”:

“I’ll think about that tomorrow…”

www.stevengriggs.com

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda!

No Limits | The Freedom Blog™

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda!

Written by Steven Griggs | stevengriggs.com

“Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves- regret for the past and fear of the future”                                                                                                                 Fulton Oursler

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."
Rumi

How many times have you had the thoughts or spoken the words: If only I would have… If only I could have ….  I should have….?  

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda.  We are all pretty familiar with WCS.

These words mean the same thing in any language and we all speak this language- the language of regret.

But this is a perilous conversation to have no matter what language you are speaking.

Do we ever really think about how much time and energy we waste looking back, constantly reassessing, reliving or reviewing the past?

Our minds rarely live in the present, in the current moment. We are forever looking back or looking forward but we are rarely in the now, the right now.

That’s because it’s hard.

It is very difficult to stay present. Our ego mind does not want to go quiet. It is on a continual quest to stay anywhere but in the here and now.

Watch yourself. See where your thoughts and attention go.

I am willing to bet your mind is not present as much as you think it is.

You can watch this when you meditate. Do you see how your mind will constantly try to sidetrack you and drag your attention to some little item, to some to do list, to another review of the same situation?

Meditation requires you to cancel those distractions and stay centered, to slip in between the gaps in your thoughts.

But it can be very busy in there!

It is the same during our day to day life, only much more active and much less noticeable.

Our busy distractions become almost invisible, like background noise, like a soundtrack of questions, WCS’s and more questions.

Living in the world of WCS’s is easy because your mind is always off somewhere else, sidetracked from the real task at hand which is staying present and working on yourself.

It is similar to gossip. Did you ever notice how comfortable it can be to join in with others when talking about someone else? Families are especially good at this.

It’s comfortable and familiar and your ego mind loves it because it makes it feel so good! Talking down other people is one of its favorite things!

The trick is to stay awake. Watch your thoughts, watch when they disappear into the past or drift off into a daydream about the future.

It’s OK to daydream a bit but living continually in WCS’s and regret will suck you dry.

The only way to overcome regret is to accept that it happened. Remind yourself that it is the mistakes and lessons that have gotten you to this point and because of those lessons you are wiser, more understanding and have a deeper compassion for your fellow man.

Try to police your mind and when it strays, herd it back to the present. It takes constant vigilance. Bring your attention back, take a deep breath, focus on where you are standing or sitting at that very moment. Feel yourself. Feel your body, feel the air you are breathing in. 
Focus on what you are seeing, hearing, smelling, and sensing. Pull your attention in.

Each day here is important.

Don’t waste another day looking at old tired reruns and writing critiques of a movie you’ve already lived.

www.stevengriggs.com