gdp's Comments

FinerMinds : Big Mind-Big Heart By Genpo Roshi - Day 22 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 14:50:30 +0000

I've been through a few Big Mind sessions and they are fantastic. Highly recommended. I can feel my neurons tingle, man. I love that. I hadn't read this book yet, though. The two things that affected me the most this morning were: 1) Using every moment as an opportunity to practice. I like to be reminded of that. I felt myself expand and relax just at the thought. Just the idea of it shifts my perspective. The whole world is a monastery, or the whole world is a dojo? I tend to gravitate to the latter, and both are true and untrue. Which fits the whole theme, I think. As an instant reframe, though, "as if the whole world were a monastery" is a really nice sampling point. 2) The integrated masculine and feminine compassion. That kind of balance is key, and holding both at the same time is glory and just the thought stretches me. Like yoga-for-the-spirit stretches. And yet, remaining unattached and rolling like a wheel. Quite a ride!

FinerMinds : Happy For No Reason By Marci Shimoff - Day 19 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 16:37:55 +0000

Awesome info and frame for that. :) Thanks for the cool reply. I agree. I want to hold others in compassion even as I see the pretenses going on, and that's a challenge for me right now. And, talking about the weather gets so damn boring. Know what I mean? So I'm having a hard time with that, because I do believe pretense is just jamming up the relationship space. Hmmm. Maybe finding a way to inoculate a room of people against pretense pathogens would be a good thing to explore. Heh.

FinerMinds : Tony Robbins - Day 20 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:36:02 +0000

"So, what things were BLUE?" What a great exercise for revealing the neural-based reality that we see what we are looking for. Part 2: look for what you want and what makes you happy.

FinerMinds : Tony Robbins - Day 20 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 15:09:31 +0000

Hey Bernard - Yeah, now that you mention it, there is a lot to unwind there. Tony's TED video might help with the framing of the six fundamental needs: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tony_robbins_as... As for the dominant question, it is something that is best formulated by each individual because the deeper it resonates to your truth and the crucible of everything you are, the more powerful the question will be for you. So try out different Q's, and use the ones that make you feel great and that make available to you the highest level of resources (from within, from around and from your history). Tweak until fine tuned. Tony was talking specifically about a habitually-ingrained question that happens under stress, and it can take some time to shift that "auto-pilot" kicking in. But keep at it, and it will indeed shift. Just realizing that we have the power to do that can be a life-changer for many people.

FinerMinds : Happy For No Reason By Marci Shimoff - Day 19 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:30:55 +0000

Good point, Chris. Dressing up the exterior can be a good experiment and a reasonable exploration, but it really isn't the key to the change. Of course, I'm one to talk, how many times have I latched onto something - it could be anything - as the "next key" to change and growth... many times! That old Zen thing of "it is all within" is still not second-nature for me. Yet. I need to go play Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road albums now.

FinerMinds : Happy For No Reason By Marci Shimoff - Day 19 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:27:05 +0000

Great way to look at it, threesthrees. I think I've missed a few of my annual garage sales and Goodwill drop-offs for my wardrobe these past few years. Time to get spring cleaning! And that also connects to the "opening space is what brings in the new" concept for me. Thanks for that!

FinerMinds : Happy For No Reason By Marci Shimoff - Day 19 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:25:13 +0000

Thanks, Mark. I know what you mean about the labels-game revealing how we respond to others' treatment of us. When that kind of pretense is revealed, I just want to strip it all away from all my interactions. But that doesn't work either. :/ I understand there is a balance between social respect and "Radical Honesty" (great book, BTW), but I'm still searching for the answer to the question, "What is pretense good for?"

FinerMinds : Happy For No Reason By Marci Shimoff - Day 19 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 14:46:11 +0000

The concepts and information in today's book are well-worn for me, having jumped into NLP over 20 years ago and being a hypnotherapist since 1993. Most are simple (and many times effective) reframes. NLP has some fantastic stuff in this area, and the refinement of the NLP patterns in this area has been amazing. It was the Maxwell Maltz quote that was the highlight for me: "Our habits are literally garments worn by our personalities. They are not accidental, or happenstance. We have them because they fit us. They are consistent with our self-image and our entire personality pattern. about the subject.” We have them because they fit us. Wow. Which means we can also look at our habits and see what shape we are. And we can change that shape simply by changing our habits. It explains the bounce-back from trying to change habits (shapes shift slowly and have inertia). This just clicks in so many ways for me. I used to *hate* the quote "the clothes make the man" when I was in my 20's. I wanted the inner spirit, integrity, contribution and compassion to make the man, not some purchase of overpriced cloth. To me, that quote was the pinnacle of superficiality trying to convince itself of its own validity. However, when I paint habits as clothing, it all syncs up, both directions. That feels so much better, and has that "hidden gem of truth" revealed... also informing about choosing actual clothes that fit your style, personality and where you are on your path. I like it. It's always good to hear that wolf story again, too. :)

FinerMinds : The 80/20 Principle By Richard Koch - Day 13 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:41:18 +0000

Good stuff on the deep relationships, I think, but what jumped out for me the most was the learning... spend much less time on reading (hmm, is that one of the principles behind Philosopher's Notes, I wonder?) by focusing on the 20% of the learning that is important. I definitely need to apply that. Helpful story about the school girl improving her grades in 6 weeks using 80/20. What's the change for me from this? Applying the 80/20 rule to social media and online networking. Which is the 20% that produces 80% of the connection and satisfaction for me? I'll be looking for that and adapting my online time to tailor a best fit. I'll also introduce that concept into my social media classes. Oh, yeah, and I need to get rid of 80% of my possessions, I think. Which would actually leave me with more time, space and energy to enjoy the 20% of them that I actually like & use!

FinerMinds : Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind By T. Harv Eker — Day 6 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:29:04 +0000

I really like the "both arms and legs" idea: money, community, personal health, family and relationships are ALL important and it's important to have them all for true happiness. This is a crucial concept. When reprogramming the blueprint, true long-term success and happiness depends on having health AND wealth, money AND quality relationships AND reputation. NLP has a super cool pattern that has helped me in this area. It's called "Well-Formed Outcomes" (see sample description), and the most critical step in the process, in my opinion, is the "Whole System Ecology Check," meaning the outcome is cross-referenced to family, relationships, personal health, social - everything. In short, it takes into account all your 'arms and legs' when creating goals and outcomes. If people skip this step, they can inadvertently end up "selling their health" and "trading their relationships" for quickest gain of cash and assets. It looks like they are achieving their goals, but really they are just making a mess. A lot of great concepts in this Note: Fruits & Roots, Grow, Aim High. Great linguistic discrimination with declarations vs. affirmations, too, a real key. I think this book meshed with the Four Quadrants of Integral Theory (a future PN, coming up!) is a very potent formula for life design. How am i going to shift based on today's Note? I'm going to make "Action is always better than Inaction" my mantra for the next two weeks... and I'm going to hear Gary Vaynerchuck's voice telling me all the great soundbites from today's Note! To me, he embodies this book up, down, left and center - and his energy is what I'd like to model. :) Oh, and I'll update the Big Ideas Grouping Etherpad document sometime today, too (feel free to jump in there, everyone!) with today's big ideas.

FinerMinds : How To Stop Worrying And Start Living By Dale Carnegie — DAY 3 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:02:20 +0000

Exactly. I'm feeling a boost of energy already. Whoa. Apparently 2 parts action + 1 part community = rockin'!! (Part of me is a little bit scared about either keeping up (or not) and/or breaking thru (or not!)! WHAT WILL HAPPEN!?!?!) :D

FinerMinds : How To Stop Worrying And Start Living By Dale Carnegie — DAY 3 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:04:44 +0000

Okay, freakin' awesome PDF Note, and freakin' perfect placement in our sequence of Notes. This was JUST what I needed after bumping up the game with not only daily Notes, but with higher attention and commitment to the principles we're covering. Great sequence so far, Brian! In today's notes, the part about relaxing while working and "just living today" were the biggest help for me. I used to be much more relaxed at my desk, shifting and just feeling more casual. Over the last few years, I seem to have forgotten that. Now I'm pretty good at being in the same posture for hours. Even getting up once an hour isn't the same as continuously relaxing muscles and body as your work. And my stiffness shows in all kinds of places (I'm feeling old some days!). The day-compartments is a great concept that I think also helps calm and focus, denying mind-space and time to those streams of past-scene-replays and future-scene-visions. I'm keeping that in mind as I shift and relax and kick back at my desk. Nice! I'm beginning to see that while each book and each concept is powerful, when they combined and reinforcing each other in a short span of time, the effect is synergistic. This rocks, Brian. Thank you and thank your team for doing this!

FinerMinds : The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen R. Covey — DAY 2 Of The PhilosophersNotes Chal

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:11:31 +0000

I haven't read this book in over a decade, and I was surprised again at the powerful contents and concepts. It was the quadrant-grid of what's important that was the most impactful for me... I could tell partly because I didn't want it to be. That's usually a sign I should take a deeper look. I think the grid helps clarify or balance the way our brains tend make decisions around what is important. There are some areas that confuse or fool our usual computing of costs, benefits, odds and time. These same kinds of miscalculated decisions are one of the core concepts in the "Freakonomics" book. When that old lizard brain is stimulated (by emotion, danger, etc.), minor things can seem huge and huge things can seem so far off and lower priority. I do think I have been missing priority on a few of the important things. So I picked something that I should have done a long time ago in support of a relationship with an old friend and teacher, and I did that instead of jumping into the whirl of need-to-be-done work tasks of the day. It wasn't a hard choice - my neglect of this relationship has been nagging me in the background for a while now. It didn't take long to do - maybe 90 mins. It felt great to get it done. A couple of other things slipped off the list of checked-off, though, and I'm in a mild panic about them. So far, nothing has blown up, so I'll just keep in the moment, keep looking around, keep plugging away, and keep seeing that it's okay. The whole thing bumped me off center enough that I am posting this comment 2 days late and I still have to finish reading yesterday's PN. None the less, I'm in great appreciation for the opportunity to stay in it, be bumped of center, and practice getting re-centered and managing it all. :) Thank you Brian and PN challenge buddies!

FinerMinds : The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen R. Covey — DAY 2 Of The PhilosophersNotes Chal

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:08:26 +0000

I second that! I feel great energy around all this, and just knowing we're all here doing this together really turbo-started my morning with energy and "keeping my word" with Tai-Chi and meditation, followed by the new PN! And, Pow! Today's blog post was a breeze and a joy to write, and I've already ticked off like four other things off today's list as well. It may just be beginner's buzz, but it is certainly wonderful. :)

FinerMinds : The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz — DAY 1 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:18:54 +0000

When you add in the idea that renegotiating commitments with people when necessary, co-designing an outcome with them all along the way, *is* actually keeping your word and commitment impeccable - then you also release the stress the primitive-brain can generate from the bind created when you get between a rock and a hard place.

FinerMinds : The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz — DAY 1 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:13:27 +0000

Hey Brian! Thanks for the reply!!! Great stuff in that Goals & Intentions video. It is so very cool to be at the drawing-work table with you at 8:30 in the morning! Here's a concept: I think for folks who are working under managers that only request outcomes, it'd be a fantastic exercise to "reverse engineer" what the right processes, production goals and intentions would be... that would support the employee's own life and health as well as the manager's outcomes. Fascinating. Thanks for that video and all your work. Great work!

FinerMinds : The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz — DAY 1 Of The PhilosophersNotes Challenge

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:52:15 +0000

What was new for me this time was the idea of "classic sin" being defined as 'missing the mark' rather than as a moral peril. I liked the quote in the PDF about how Tibetan has no word for 'guilty', the closet thing is a word meaning ‘intelligent regret that decides to do things differently.’ For me, that concept totally defuses a bunch of triggers to judgement of myself and others. The way it applies to my daily current life is (oddly enough) about time. I'm feeling constant pressure to go faster in all things, and the feeling I'm not going fast enough brings judgement on myself and on others (for also not going fast enough). This sin concept has me breathing slower and feeling patience with myself and others, that there *is* time; it doesn't have to be a perfect bulls-eye executed as rapidly as possible. The rush, in fact, results in more sin (misses), know what I mean? Kinda fascinating for me because I couldn't have predicted that clarifying sin would help slow down my rushing and I'm not sure I can logically explain the connection. I'm satisfied to accept it as a desired effect though, especially since I know from experience that when I slow down and have patience with people (myself included) and diligence with the task, it actually gets done better and faster. Just one of those things!