What Box?^®

I’ve been taking a break from the nano-second world on a beach in Isla Mujeres, Mexico to recharge my batteries for yet another round of the extraordinary pace that many of us keep these days.

Slowing it down a few notches and removing myself from familiar environments has reminded me of the power of contemplation and “being.” What happened to my “human being?” I am such a “human doing” these days.

Sitting on the beach drinking a cervesa or two, taking in the wild tourists all around without a care in the world, and watching and listening to the waves has opened my mind to new thinking. As I let my mind wander more and more, the idea of ignorance being bliss came to me. I mean, these folks around me were acting like they owned the world, that their every need being met was a right, and that looking good doing it was nothing short of amazing.

This idea is nothing new. We have all heard it before. “Ignorance is bliss.” I can remember my mother saying this to me at times when I was not facing reality or looking at what my role was in any given situation. Let’s face it. It can be easier to go through life in a state of ignorant bliss than facing reality. Reality sucks much of the time, and the way things are many times do not fit within our personal desires or goals. But is ignorance really bliss?

“Ignorance is not bliss – it is oblivion.” Philip Wylie

Perhaps it is our arrogance that produces the ignorance, which keeps us from fulfilling our purpose. We start to follow unproductive paths leading away from where we really need to be, and more importantly, where we really want to be. Could it be that ignorance is one of the roots of evil in the world?

Like so many things written in What Box? this is nothing new. We have heard it before. It has already been discovered, taught, and demonstrated by wise ones throughout history. Yet we keep repeating old patterns of behavior. Why does ignorance carry on like it does?

What we are experiencing today is part of the human journey that has been taking place over many centuries. Civilization has been created from savagery. We have continued to perfect the creation of wealth, new levels of consciousness have been discovered, and we still remain in ignorant bliss as to our role and impact on the world and how interconnected we all are.

Why is it that throughout history there have been very few people who break through the noise while the rest of us are left behind continuing to be in a state of ignorant bliss? Why are these people so rare?

Our world is changing and the accelerated breakdown of our moral compass is increasing crime, violence, ignorance, and family disintegration. I believe that we are at a critical point in human history, a place where we need to wake up, face the reality of our situation, and move from ignorance to assuming greater responsibility for the world and the communities in which we live. This is not a situation that we have suddenly found ourselves in. This has been building for hundreds of years. Yet we find that we have the power to make a difference in our future. Reaching for and living your full potential is one of the great keys to moving ourselves into a new and brighter future. We can do it!

“Curiosity is a willing, a proud, an eager confession of ignorance.” S. Leonard Rubinstein Writing: A Habit of Mind

Lying on the beach away from my phones, my emails, my faxes, my “crackberry,” and other so called technological advances, it has become clearer than ever that technology itself is a major accelerator of our moral compass breakdown. When I am in the “nano-second” world, this reality is not clear, because I become predominately a “human doing” and I don’t take the time to be a “human being.” I miss the cues of life. I miss the road signs that would awaken me to the realities of the world around me, and I can very easily end up taking the path of blissful ignorance. This is not such good path in the end I am sure.

We are here today because of the path that our historical human journey has taken, and the present reality, for better or worse, is where we find ourselves. Unrealistic expectations being set for us, a reduction of responsibility, pressures to be something other than what we are all pull on us. We can, however, change our current path and create a new future. In the end nothing is more important for you, me, and future generations if we are to survive in our increasingly complex and changing world.

Ignorance is not bliss. Personal growth and advancement for all is our greatest hope to change the course of our collective future. This is not an easy road to take. It will stretch us and force us to face realities that, up to this point, we may not have taken the time to see.

“If we are always arriving and departing, it is also true that we are eternally anchored. One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things.” Henry Miller

The future is ours. The choices you make are yours. What will you choose?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

One thing we all have in common is that sometimes we become afraid. We may be afraid of heights, we may be afraid of the dark, and for others it may be spiders and snakes. One thing is certain. We are all afraid, at one point or another, during our journey through life.

For many of us being afraid stems from the great unknown. That is we do not have enough information to make an informed decision and our emotions take over, causing us to run on fear. Fear and being afraid can be a good thing. It causes us to be a little more cautious and careful about the steps we are going to take.

On the other hand, being in fear and being afraid can block us in our tracks and prevent us from taking risks and reaching for our full potential. Risks are a part of life. As I sit and write this article, I am at risk of a tree branch falling into my studio, or that a tornado will hit and I will be swept away. The greatest risk remains, which is not taking a risk at all.

“If you risk nothing, then you risk everything.” Grena Davis

Last week while conducting a What Box? Think-A-Torium™ in Dallas, Texas for the Women’s Business Council Southwest Conference, I was reminded how powerful fear can be in holding one back. I was graphically facilitating a brainstorming session with over a hundred women professionals. We started with the question, “What holds us back from reaching our full potential?” Very powerful and introspective responses were harvested from the group. Then we transitioned to the question, “How do we overcome these challenges to reach our full potential?” It was at this point, as happens many times during these types of visually driven programs, the group wisdom started to reach a heightened level of energy. A voice in the audience said, “Just do it afraid.”

“Just do it afraid!” What a fantastic and powerful response.

It was in this moment, on stage, in front of a hundred powerful women, that I realized how much I do in my life when I am afraid. Just being on stage, in front of all of these people, is something that I do, but I‘m afraid, I experience fear. I’m afraid that I will misspell a word in front of them. I’m afraid that I will not say the right thing at the exact right moment. I’m afraid that I will forget the critical points, and afraid that, in the end, I will not be good enough to make a positive difference.

Then, in a flash, my mind went to Pavarotti, the great opera singer, who once said he threw up before his performances. He was one of the greatest singers of all time, and yet he was afraid to go out on stage and perform. Guess what he was doing? He was “doing it afraid,” and as a result, the world is a more creative place for it.

Do you think that when the astronauts were strapped to a massive rocket they weren’t afraid to fly to the moon? What about walking on the moon? I am willing to bet they were “doing it afraid.”

If you really take the time to think about it, the possibility is great that almost any transformational thing that has ever happened has happened because someone was willing to “do it afraid.”

Taking on your first job is a great example of “doing it afraid.” Driving a car for the first time is an example of “doing it afraid.” Didn’t you experience “doing it afraid” when you rode your first bike? What about the first time you took a swim in a lake or pool?

Every entrepreneurial endeavor that has ever made it past the start-up phase has “done it afraid.”

It is possible that “doing it afraid” can be one of the most powerful actions we can take to support ourselves in reaching our full potential and stretch ourselves to new heights?

Yet, something happens along the life journey that causes us to reduce our willingness to “do it afraid.” Life becomes more comfortable and we grow complacent. We realize we do not have to be in a “do it afraid” mode, because we have learned enough not to be afraid of where we are. So we stay in the same place and play it safe, not “doing it afraid” anymore.

“Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same and get better.” Sydney J. Harris

How can you take back your “doing it afraid” past and embrace it in the here and now to reach for something more, something greater than what is?

Our world is changing faster and faster. Embracing change and entering the unknown is not an option if we are to be relevant in today’s world. To do this we all need to re-engage our willingness to “do it afraid.” What we gain is a new realization of what is possible, and an ability to help not just ourselves, but our community and the world around us. Not much could be more important.

“Just do it afraid,” the lady said. If we don’t, I am afraid for what is around the corner.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

Have you ever noticed when you get mad about something new ideas start coming to you?

Sometimes creative change happens when people get mad or are dissatisfied with the way things are in their lives. Someone couldn’t keep a piece paper stuck to the wall and invented Post It. Another person couldn’t find the period piece of architecture he needed and started Restoration Hardware stores. Someone else was mad because he couldn’t tie his shoes and discovered Velcro as a solution. And yet another was frustrated and mad about having to buy traditional gas and started a company to recycle vegetable oil and turned it into bio diesel. These innovations and businesses were all started because someone got mad about not being able to find what it was that they wanted.

“Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let’s love turbulence and use it for change.” Ramsey Clark

In many cases innovation erupts from getting so frustrated about something that a new idea or solution emerges as a direct outcome from this anger.

Are you mad about global terrorism, partisanship in government, unregulated bad business practices, or media distortions? Do something about it. Use your frustration and anger to come up with a creative solution.

When you get mad about something, your mind shifts and you start to think differently. The challenge is to channel this anger into something productive, something that makes a difference. You know, those rants and raves that come out when you are angry, the ones with all these new ideas, the “what if’s,” and “why not’s.” Do something with them and turn them into reality.

Getting mad can be a great motivator and set you into action when action is not happening. When you get mad you can start to think that you can do anything, that I can do this and better. Guess what? You can do anything and you can do it better. Use this anger to jump-start a new project, a new endeavor, a new invention, a solution, or whatever it is that comes out of you when you are in a state of anger.

This power cannot be under estimated. In my life I have learned that when I get mad, which is not all that often, there is a golden opportunity for inspiration. As an example, whenever the circus comes to town I get fired up to inform and share with communities the fact that circuses are not fun for animals and how dangerous they can be for those in the audience. I talk about how endangered animals are being forced to do things that are unnatural to them. My anger for the lack of respect for these unfortunate animals motivates me into action.

How can you get fired up to do good, to come up with a creative solution when you get mad?

Let me be clear here. I am not recommending that you get mad all the time. Being in a continual state of anger is not healthy at all, and I would suggest that if you are getting angry on a regular basis it is time to look for balance in your life, to reflect on what is making you mad, and to look for creative solutions in order to enable positive change to happen.

Everyone gets mad every once in a while. It is those every now and again occasions of getting mad where opportunities to create something new, to solve a problem, or to jump into action take place.

You have an amazing power to create anything you want in your life and influence those around you in positive ways. Sometimes it is when you get mad that the inspiration and motivation to create positive change emerges.

“Anger is not only inevitable, it is necessary. Its absence means indifference, the most disastrous of all human feelings.” Arthur Ponsonby

Go ahead and get mad, and when you do, use your creativity to make a difference today.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

How many of us in the world are sleep-walking through life, believing we have it made, that we are awakened to our personal power, that we are in touch with the realities of our world, and we are on the path to being the best we can be?

No matter how far we are along the path of our mythical journey, we always have room to improve, to grow, and to stretch ourselves to new heights. We may come to a point along our life’s journey where we think that we have overcome many of our lives personal challenges, those experiences that make up our beliefs and perceptions. Many of these beliefs and perceptions are formed when we are children and are reinforced as we grow older. If we look closely we may discover that we are acting out old patterns in new ways.

Reaching for one’s full potential is hard work and in all likelihood will last a lifetime. It means waking up to the realities that throughout our lives we have bought into many negative projections and behaviors that hold us back from becoming the best we can be. These projections and behaviors are formed when our parents and early influencers tell us intentionally, or communicate to us unintentionally, that we are not good enough, we can’t do what we want, we have to conform, money doesn’t grow on trees, a fair is where you go to have fun, or whatever other examples you can come up with from your own life’s experience.

Since we take these words and experiences very seriously as we are growing up, they become part of our subconscious, lying just below the surface of our consciousness, driving our every actions and reactions. Waking up to this reality is an important step in the process of reaching for our full potential.

“It is hard to let old beliefs go. They are familiar. We are comfortable with them and have spent years building systems and developing habits around them. Like a man who has worn eye glasses so long that he forgets he has them on, we forget that the world looks to us the way it does because we have become used to seeing it that way through a particular set of lenses. Today, however, we need new lenses. And we need to throw the old ones away.” Kenich Ohmae

In my life I have bought into some pretty heavy non-productive and non-full-potential reaching projections that have been projected towards me. As a child I was removed from over 12 schools by the time I was a sophomore in high school. In each case I was told, whether verbally or through disciplinary actions, that I would never amount to anything, that I needed to be sent away, that I was not worth the effort of trying to figure out why I didn’t fit in. This drove me to a point where I wanted to end it all. I wanted to give up. I fell for and believed all the negativity that was being projected on me. But something inside me said, “Never, give up.”

When I reached this point in my life I rebelled and let these people who were having such a negative influence in my life know that I would be back, and that they did not know what they were talking about or what they were doing. This did not help the situation at the time, but it did give me the courage to fight for another day.

It was around my 21^st birthday that I started to wake up. I realized that I had a purpose on this planet and that I needed to be one of the people who reached for their full potential in order to realize that which could be. I began to realize that I was more than what had been projected onto me. It was the process of waking up to my spiritual being, my greater purpose, my connection to something far greater than “I” that whacked me out of my depressed state. Ever since that time I have not let go of the fact that I have a purpose in life and part of that purpose is to reach for my full potential in order to better support the whole.

The challenge as it relates to the process of waking up to your full potential is that you have to face many of the demon’s that hold you back. This process means being brutally honest about yourself, your behaviors, your actions, and how you interact with others. It means having to change those things that hold you back and embrace those things that enhance who you are. It means looking at the experiences and challenges in your life and learning from them.

“Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” Abigail Adam

When you awaken to your potential you start seeing with new eyes. Everything becomes an opportunity to grow and to improve. This enables you to become aware of how you communicate, how you react, how you think, and what you think about. This is the point when you start to increase your intuitive nature and allow yourself to perceive more of the world around you.

Reaching for your full potential means looking at ways to improve yourself, and in the process you will discover ways to better support the whole, your family, your community, your state, your nation, and in some cases the world. It means moving past the self into a place where your contributions empower others and your intentions will have the potential to leave behind a better place for future generations.

Each and every one of us is a sacred soul with more to offer than many of us realize, myself included.

Are you ready to take the bold step and wake up to your full potential?

The time is now!

Let me know what you think

Dear Sean,
I read you article “Arrows of Wisdom” and found it to inspire a lot of thinking. I would really like to try new things, but my fear of failure is overwhelming. How can I get passed this fear that I won’t succeed?
Trying in Owasso

Dear Trying,
Self doubt is a powerful force that is holding many of us back. Not only does self doubt hold us back, external pressures from the people who influence us can be an added brick wall. The challenge is to break through these doubts and take a real risk. Do you have a business idea? Take a loan out, ask a friend to help fund it and do everything possible to make it a reality. It takes a lot of guts to move past those fears that hold us back from reaching for what we want to create for ourselves. Take small steps if necessary such as choosing a colorful paint for your home office or new Italian tile for you bathroom. The key is to take your ideas and turn them into action. Taking action is the great differentiator in life. You can do it!
Keep on keeping on,
Sean

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.