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Decision Making

Trouble Focusing?

October 15, 2015 by Mark Shepard

40808287_mHaving Trouble Focusing? Feeling Scattered? Have Many Interests and Talents?

Feel like a kid in the candy store of life? So many things you COULD do? So many possibilities? So many choices?

Do you have many talents and interests? So many that it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming and frustrating?

You might want to try “Chunking Up!” and Surfing it…

I got a great email today from Transformation Nation member Ari. This guy is doing some really good, profound, deep work and I LOVE hearing from him as well as all of you budding Jedi Mind Masters out there.

He was responding to yesterday’s Post, Dealing With Change. His question and reflection on change and the challenge of being a “creative” with multiple interests and passions is sheer “GOLD”. I have a feeling a lot of you can relate to it.

Being a being with multiple interests myself, this used to drive me crazy! I could focus intensely for a while on something but invariably the level of interest and attention would eventually kind of run out…

And something new would grab my attention. Then I’d go deep with that.

  • My first big thing was nature,
  • Which led me to a fascination (as a 4th grader) with everything Native American.
  • Then it was the Revolutionary War,
  • Then it was, learning to play the guitar well enough to write the songs I wanted to write,
  • And of course writing songs
  • Then it was my fascination with world religions
  • Then it was healing my body and my heart/soul,
  • Then it was storytelling and kid performing,
  • Then it was African drumming
  • Then learning the Irish Tin Whistle
  • Then it was hypnosis and NLP,
  • Then it was learning how to paint in a way that made me happy,
  • Then it was developing my anxiety relief programs, and pretty much helping people with all kinds of challenges with NLP and hypnosis, Weight Loss, Habit Control, Shyness,

Of course a lot of this has been going on at the same time in various ways. And when I set one thing down for a while and turned my attention and focus elsewhere, I noticed I would often return refreshed and even more creative. And all these areas of interest were often combining and re-combining in ways that when I kind of relaxed into it and “surfed” it, constantly surprise and delight me.

I also noticed that when I tried to “force” a focus because it would “make more money”. It pretty much always bit me in the butt.

So I’m a big advocate of following the natural “flow” of your interests and passions. And checking in frequently for “congruence”.

Chances are if you are here at HonestHypnosis.com you are probably a bit like my friend Ari and myself… I’d like to invite you to join the conversation…

Here’s his letter:

Mark,

I wanted to explore a little more with you regarding the way I handle change. You and I had talked once about my frustration with having so many different interests (creative, exercise, etc.) that I did not feel that I could be good at any one of them.

In other words, I felt unfocused.

You said that the process of exploring all of them was, in and of itself, a valid reason to be alive, a valid purpose for a life.

I think at the core of my resistance to what you said (there is a part of me that still wants a specialized focus) is trouble coping with change on my part.

If I interpret all of my various interests (guitar, singing, running, photography, yoga, church, farming, etc.) in a positive light, I simply give myself options of what I can do when I happen to have some free time on my hands.

But as it is, I interpret it negatively, as though I have a poor ability to focus, a low work ethic, etc., and that is why I can’t go very far in any one thing. I feel out of control somehow.

Ari

Here is my reply (which is to Ari and all of you as well as my own unconcious mind):

Hey Ari, (Oh man of many talents and interests…)

My profoundest advice is this: Chunk Up and Learn to SURF it.

In fact watch some surfers on youtube or wherever.

Always adjusting and often falling… each wave different from the last…

Each interest is a wave. Ride the one you’re on until it dissipates or you feel drawn to the next one…

Ultimately the waves flow out in circles and then bounce or reverberate back… so you can ride them again and again… in different directions…

It’s all one energy.

Creative.

Divine.

The ancient Toltecs believed that when we die we return our bubble of awareness to the “Source of all things”, “God”, “All that Is”, whatever you want to call it, ENHANCED by our experiences and the memories of a lifetime.

This is our purpose for having the life force given to us… to expand God… To be God’s eyes, ears, sense receptors “on the ground” “in the field” so to speak… and to learn, grow, seek to understand, expand, deepen, discover…

So stop judging yourself for multiple interests. Your creativitiy and interest in many things is what The Universe/God wants you to be doing… Start enjoying the adventure knowing you will someday present it as a gift to your Creator…

If finding a focus is a MUST, then try this:
Chunk up enough so that all of the things you love to do
are sweetly nestled under a single cohesive umbrella…

Chunking up is going from specific to general. For example:
Toyota Corolla ==> Passenger Car ==>Motor Vehicle ==>TRANSPORTATION.

For me, when I chunked up on what my music and my NLP / Hypnosis / Painting / Storytelling / Entrepreneurism all had in common…. I got  creativity, making a positive difference in the world and helping other people to learn, heal, expand, develop, grow…. and when I chunked up on THAT, I got “Transformation”

(of course hypnosis is quite literally “Trance Formation”. And Music causes us to transform our state as well and can cause a deep trance…)

So Today’s Mind Mastery Transformation Tip for ALL of you FABULOUS, creative, talented, passionate, curious, action taking “TRANSFORMING bubbles of awareness” out there who have many interests is “Chunk up!” and start surfing all of  your many interests without having to “force” any one of them be the “One thing”. Go into what they all have in common. What is it about these interests that nourish an literally Interests you? Are they areas where you can command some mastery? Are they areas of interest because you happen to be good at them? Or are you good at them because you are interested in them?

Your “One Thing” will be something that INCLUDES all the best of what you are and do and are interested and passionate about.

So tawk to me Ari and all you other folks out there. I find your thoughts Fascinating… I love being a part of your TRANSFORMATION!

Be gentle with yourselves and have fun while you play with this idea today…

Chunk UP and Surf the Waves of Interest…

Mark

p.s. Oh BTW… the Surf’s UP ALL the time! :o)

p.p.s. A big Transformation Nation welcome to Joshua!

p.p.p.s. To Contact me click here

p.p.p.ps. BTW candy is BAD for you. Life is GOOD for you. Just sayin’

photo credit: Copyright: pavsie / 123RF Stock Photo

Filed Under: Awareness, Congruence & Ecology, Creating Change, Creativity, Curiosity, Daily Mind Mastery Tip, Dealing with Change, Decision Making, Eliminating Routines, Flow States, Focus, Goal Setting, Innovative Thinking, Overcoming Obstacles, Path with Heart - Massive Throbbing Vision, Peak Performance, Problem Solving, Self Improvement, The One Thing, Transformation

Soul Boner 101

May 31, 2015 by Mark Shepard

42525401_s“I’m not really sure I’m ready to commit…”

“What if I don’t feel like doing it one day?”

“What if I run out of things to say?”

“What if I commit to this and it turns out to be totally irrelevant and a waste of time?”

Have you ever heard yourself say or think things like that when imagining some new job, career or project? Particularly something that you REALLY, REALLY WANT?

Welcome to the human race!

In the last few weeks, I’ve been spending a significant amount of time with a couple of my mentors. These are guys who have truly put their money where their mouth is in their lives and committed to paths that have brought a ton of value into MY life (as well as thousands if not millions of other people.

I want to do the same in my own way… for YOUR life. For the lives of thousands of guys like you.

It’s one of my MASSIVE, THROBBING, PULSING, TWITCHING… VISIONS for my life.

What I affectionately call…

“SOUL BONERS.”

The question that I’ve been nibbling on all week is this:

“Can I integrate my songwriting with my peak performance/personal mastery coaching? Or Do they just naturally stand on their own as two separate endeavors?”

I think they are connected and ecologically congruent as they each influence each other…

BUT…. (no replace that with ) “AND”

Committing to BOTH of them will definitely take more time than integrating them into “one thing”

A single 100 watt light bulb can dimly light a room. A 100 watt laser beam can cut steel.

Two 100 watt lasers can cut a LOT of steel.

There is a lot of talk about focus. Focus. Focus hocus pocus. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Focus on one thing for maximum success…

Both of my mentors this week have talked about the “one thing”.

Which in my mind is the place where YOUR deep passion and interest and expertise meets the world’s DEEP need.

But HOW do you CHOOSE what to focus on?

  • What if you put everything else aside and focus on something that is not big enough to keep your interest?
  • What if you focus on something that not many people actually give a shit about?
  • What if you focus on something that is too small?

The answer is you do your best to get it right. You do your best to choose a path with heart. You do your best to choose a path that inspires and challenges you. A path that makes a difference in YOUR world as well as the world of others.

Then you take a deep breath and BEGIN.

  • You can (and most certainly will) change course along the way.
  • You can add or subtract as you go.
  • You can adjust.
  • You can even realize that the “one thing” that you started with might have been leading you to a new “one thing” when you are ready.

Example: One of my mentors used to be a basketball freak. He wanted to play all the time, he focused on basketball throughout high school and college. To the exclusion of almost everything else. He eventually won a scholarship at an internet marketing training and started an online basketball program that brought in some pretty big success. But he got burned out on basketball. Totally crispy, toasty, DONE. So he turned his attention to the next project that fueled his passion and imagination… Now he’s totally killing it in that market and is opening up a new level in a new area. Because it’s the right time for him.

The bottom line is that he COMMITTED to a path with heart and put everything he had into it. He inspired me back in November of 2014 because every single day he writes a newsletter. An original, kick ass newsletter that has often been helpful and inspirational to me. So as I watch my own life improve based on what I’ve learned from him, I find myself being “called” to do my own authentic version of the same idea. Provide over the top value to the guys on this list. Guys like you.

Because of his example I committed to building a list of people who love my music enough to subscribe to a “Song of the day”. Along with that was the deeper commitment to get my ass in to the recording studio on a more frequent basis and simply record all the songs that over the years somehow never got recorded. For SIX MONTHS I have done that simple task FIRST. Every… single… day.

And what keeps coming up for me is that as much as I love music and writing songs, what fuels that creativity is an even deeper passion.

The passion I have for learning and applying life lessons and innovations that empower me to “do what I want, when I want, where I want, with whom I want.” My passion for learning, reading and testing out ideas is a SERIOUS foundation for my songwriting, storytelling, visual artist, peak performance flow.

So today, I begin a new commitment. To You. Sharing my tools, techniques, insights, learnings and wisdom with you. In a way that powerfully rocks your world. Every single day.

So who are YOU?

Chances are, you are probably like me in many areas of your life.

  • You probably grew up not so into sports. Although you may have discovered how much better you feel when you move your body, your sport may be a solo thing like running or cycling or a spiritual thing like Tai Chi or yoga.
  • You might not have had a lot of great male role models.
  • You might have been heavily influenced by your mom and your many female teachers (My mom literally “programmed” me to be the good little boy who always did what a woman told him to do… fvck that!).
  • You probably read a great deal.
  • You probably are smarter than the average bear.
  • You might be more introverted than extroverted.
  • You probably don’t quite “get” the female of the species. At least you don’t get the sex and love and attention that you want.
  • You might be a late bloomer or an underachiever.
  • You might have a ton of talent and not know quite how to get it to pay the bills.
  • You might be eating shitty food or have other health related issues.
  • You might have anxiety in some areas of your life, Performance anxiety in your sport, or career…. or in the bedroom. Approach anxiety. Test anxiety. Been there. Did that. It sucked. Overcame it.
  • You might want to stop giving away your power to women or bullies.
  • You might want to actually live that big dream you had as a kid that you have put aside so many times in order to be “responsible” or “sensible”

These are all areas that I have done deep work in with my NLP and Hypnosis practice. These are all areas I’ve CRUSHED it in my own life by applying step by step some EXTREMELY powerful tools for personal mastery. I want to share them with you.

And so today.

I chose to get up an hour earlier. And take the first step in what I intend to be a massive, throbbing, long, mutually beneficial journey.

One blog post a day here in addition to my Song of the Day post at MarkShepardSongs.com

Music and personal mastery/transformation. That’s my “one thing”.

In two parts.

Except when I have an idea for something that doesn’t quite fit in with these two “boxes”. LOL

Today no one faults Leonardo Da Vinci for having many interests. He was a renaissance man. He was as interested in engineering as he was in art. He was always experimenting. Not always finishing or fully developing his ideas. He probably did not make as much money in his lifetime as he COULD have if he had only focused…

But guys like us. You and Me AND old Leonardo Da Vinci, we have BIG visions. BIG minds. BIG plans. BIG. We think big. And we set out to reach the stars… We may fall short but at least we get SOMEWHERE!

Compare that to all the cubicle slaves grinding away at shit they hate, for people they don’t respect. Following the rules that someone else laid down for them. Being good little boys. Nice guys… and suffering in quiet desperation… blech!

So for the next 30 days. I am committing to a new blog post or video here at Cowabungah.com every single day.

If it still feels congruent at the end of 30 days, then we’ll go for 90… After that we’ll set the next goal.

So today’s tip is simple:

Take some time to look before you leap. Then take a deep breath, and FVCKING LEAP!

Action trumps thinking about taking action. But Intelligent, EFFECTIVE action trumps flailing away without a plan. There is a truly helpful and healthy pattern in spending some time each day or each month reflecting and observing the possible future outcomes related to each possible idea. But when you have done your due diligence, You need to let go of the doubts and the 2nd guessing and MOVE.

Forwards.

It is better to take totally dumb-ass “stupid” action than to sit on the couch watching shitty TV.

But you might as well take intelligent, congruent, ecological, action. Step by step. Chip away at getting to where you want to go.

So for me over here “walking my talk”, I am committing to: One thought a day that might give you the tools, ideas, inspiration, motivation, insight, or even plain HOPE that you can master your mind for a change, master your life, master your relationships, master your health, master your money. And not just some damn little fluff like all these other blogs.

Fvck that.

I may be a little ahead of where you are, but I too, am on this journey. Always will be. Today was easy. Just one thought. One small commitment to a practice that could possibly reach out like the ripples of a pond and send value your way…

Your part? To learn, apply and share.

Today’s assignment is called “Soul Boner 101″…

  • Take some time and write out every possible “Soul Boner” idea that you have. All of ’em.
  • If you had a year to live what would you do that you are not doing now?
  • If you had 6 months?
  • If you had 90 days?
  • If you had 1 month?
  • If you had 1 week?
  • If you had 1 day?

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

Take a single piece of paper for each “Soul Boner” and write out the fantasy of what you would LOVE to have happen in that area of your life. You might need some time for this. Set aside an hour. Yeah. An hour. Turn off the fvcking TV or get up an hour earlier and start writing the script of your life. Write the script you WANT. What do YOU want? Stop thinking about what you DON’T want. FOCUS on what you DO want.

When you get something written down send me an email.

What are you hot for in your life? What are your 10 main “Soul Boners”?

We’ll get to clearing any blocks or obstacles to your dreams in future posts. But start small or big. It doesn’t matter. Just start. The key is to become conscious and aware of the fact that YOU are the captain of your own ship. The captain needs to know the destination of that ship. He needs to hold that vision every single day until he reaches the next port. There he can focus on the next step in his journey.

We can do this!

Begin.

Now.

P.S. If you have any thoughts or questions or subjects you would like me to reflect upon in future videos, click the button below and contact me today.

Let’s talk…

Filed Under: Decision Making, Dreams, Focus, Goal Setting, Keys To Cowabungah, Path with Heart - Massive Throbbing Vision

Is It Worth Doing?

September 28, 2013 by Mark Shepard

screen shot of Mark Shepard, NLPT

In this video I explore in some depth how to evaluate whether a new idea, business opportunity or even relationship is worth committing to.

There’s a PDF worksheet below the video that you can download in order to apply these ideas.

Enjoy…

“Is It Worth Doing?” Worksheet (right click and choose “Save As” or “Save Link As”)

Cowabungah!

P.S. If you have any thoughts or questions or subjects you would like me to reflect upon in future videos, click the button below and contact me today.

Let’s talk…

Filed Under: Decision Making, Goal Setting, Keys To Cowabungah

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A few testimonials…

Haven’t felt this good for a long time…

“I haven’t felt this good for a long time and it’s a great feeling. I just wanted to say thank you so much and I really appreciate all your help.”

Kent

Experienced a total transformation…

“I went online and logged in to your course How To Get Over A Breakup and experienced a total transformation.”

Paula

One day I just stopped wanting all the sweets…

“It wasn’t an ‘instant’ fix. It took a little while but one day I just stopped wanting all the sweets that I used to crave. Now I’m drinking more water and loving my body more.”

Kay F.

I’ve been regularly using your breathing techniques…

“Hi Mark, I’ve been regularly using your breathing techniques and positive ‘why’ questions. I also bought your song ‘Arise Arise’ as it seems to really help when nervous.”

Jason

Used your courses to great effect…

“I’ve used your Shy Guy Help and ED courses to great effect, thank you!”

Ian

Already feel better!

“Hey, finished watching the Mojo course last night, great stuff. I already feel better!”

Todd

Makes it easy to understand…

“Oh man Mark. This is what I needed today. You explain things so well that makes it easy to understand. You my friend are awesome at what you do. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Linda

Excellent customer service

“Excellent customer service. Thanks a lot!!!!!!”

Luis C.

Already noticing huge progress!

“I have really enjoyed watching all of your videos, and I am already noticing huge progress! I go through all of your recommended self-hypnosis on a daily basis and notice improvement each day.”

Chris

The program is so powerful and energetic…

“Mark provided a lot of information and tools to help me in weight loss and in all areas of my life. The program is so powerful and energetic. The camaraderie you encourage is extremely beneficial.”

Ann B.

I’ve been applying the techniques…

“Thank you Mark! I’ve been applying the techniques you taught us last week, and DAMN, it seems to be working already (but I’m not positive yet). I also wanted to tell you that I think you’ve got a real winner in your ‘Rain’ song. Ever since I heard it, I can’t get it out of my head! You’re the Best!”

Kate

Panic attacks gone for good…

“When I woke up this morning I was thinking about my panic attacks. I could not remember that last time I had one! I used the techniques in your CRUSH Anxiety Program. Thank you so much for all your help.”

Robin

Very helpful…

“The information you are providing in the “CRUSH anxiety NOW!” course is very helpful. Thanks, Mark! BTW, I love your music, too. :-)”

Beth P.

I can’t thank you enough!

“I want to thank you for EVERYTHING you did for me! Ran the 48.6 miles last weekend. That is huge as when I first saw you I couldn’t even run outdoors without anxiety. I can’t thank you enough!”

John B.

A miracle!

“Mark’s intensive phobia-releasing session CURED me. The ‘trigger’ no longer causes me to shake and tremble. That’s a miracle! The healing affected more than just me.”

A. Hart

Leaving my fears in the dust…

“It is a journey and Mark has shared a lot of great, drug free techniques that I intend to KEEP practicing as I leave my fears in the dust once and for all.”

Cheryl

You are a ROCKSTAR!

“Thank you for your work, Mark! You are a ROCKSTAR! The best kind. Full of love and life!”

Leslie M. Thornton

Anxiety is GONE!

“Oh my god… when you said ‘now where’s the anxiety?’ it gave me the biggest grin I’ve had in a long time… ‘cuz it was GONE! This is genius! You’re a genius sir!”

Jay

Honest and compassionate…

“I loved all the ‘transformation tools.’ I use them every day. I feel positive – self love. Mark worked hard and really cares about us. …very giving – honest and compassionate – thank you!”

Susan C.

Thank you so much for all of your help!

“Dear Mr. Shepard, I killed it with my speech yesterday, so thank you so much for all of your help! And thank you for adding me into the Bully Proof Teen group. I’ve been bullied myself as well so this is a good place for me to learn more. I will definitely take advantage of it. Don’t ever stop doing what you are doing!”

Hasen Khiar

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