Mission Coach Newsletter March 2005 (Vol. 3) Welcome to the March addition of the Mission Coach newsletter. I hope you had a chance to go through the Achieve > Act > Commit technique in last month’s newsletter, if you would like a copy in a formatted PDF document (which is much easier to read!) please send me an email, the address is at the bottom of this newsletter.
This month we look at the first 3 of 9 ways to rediscover our Life’s Purpose. This article is intended to demystify the idea that we have to struggle and search to find our Mission. Finding (rediscovering) our Mission is our “entry ticket” into the game of life, the real fun and challenge begins when we start playing the game!
I promised last month to explain the significance of version numbers on techniques and the back to front title of Achieve > Act > Commit, you will find these in the “Other Bits” section.
In “What’s Happening at Mission Coach” there’s news of the Mission Coach Web-Log (“Blog”) facility soon to be available and a plea for some assistance from experienced “bloggers”. We look at Lynn Grabhorn’s best seller “Excuse me your life is waiting!” Wait no more check out the book in the “Tool Review” section. So all that’s left is for me to say “Excuse me your newsletter’s waiting!”.... This Month's Article
9 Ways to Rediscover Your Life's Purpose (Part 1) Outcomes for this article (and the next 2): - answer the question why “rediscover” your Life’s Purpose not “discover” or “find”
- getting your entry ticket to the game - 9 ways to rediscover your Life’s Purpose
Why “Rediscover” Your Life’s Purpose not “Discover”?
Please permit me to do a little mind reading. You have subscribed to this newsletter, you have read the intro above and now you have started to read this article. All safe so far - here’s the mind reading bit; (probably) you have already spent time (and money) trying to find your Life’s Purpose, (probably) you believe when you do the pieces of your life will fall into place and the picture become clear, (probably) you believe when you have a clear picture you will also have the inspiration, courage, confidence and cash (remember last month’s book) to take your Mission out into the world. And now I have the nerve to imply that not only do you already know what your Mission is (as in re-discover) but also rediscovering it is only the beginning, the real challenge is to live it! Let’s get gloriously irreverent with a sporting analogy; The stadium is full, the roar of the crowd is deafening as the players take their positions ready to start the game. Suddenly the voice of God comes booming over the tannoy – and she’s laughing. “My good people, I just dropped by to tell you you cannot play the game because I have hidden the ball!” While there may be millions of women (and a few men) around the planet who would dearly love to hide the (cricket, soccer, rugby American football, you name it) ball to unglue their men from the TV, hiding our Life’s Purpose is unlikely to be the action of an Unconditionally Loving God! There is no “Divine Logic” in hiding our Life’s Purpose from us in a way it makes it extraordinarily difficult or impossible for us to Discover. There is however a Divine Logic in “causing us to forget” our Life’s Purpose in order that we may CHOOSE TO REMEMBER or Re-discover it. Here are the first 3 of 9 ways that may lead us to allow ourselves to make that choice….. 1 – An Epiphany
This is an instant or near instant awakening, often associated with bright light and a vision recognisable to the person experiencing the Epiphany as some kind of icon – often a religious one. Permit me to share with you a theory I have about Epiphanies using the analogy of a book. In every instant of life we recreate and experience* the next word on the page of our own Book of Life, each Book of Life is a part of the “Whole (Universal) Story”. In that same instant we have the Free Will to decide how much of the Whole Story we choose to remember, recreate and experience. Should we choose (usually unconsciously) to remember, recreate and experience it All – bang we have ourselves one Almighty awakening (excuse the pun) a.k.a. an Epiphany. In that instant of awakening or in-sight we may experience the totality of the Universe as we remember (that is re-member as in once again be a member of, and at One with) the “Whole Story”. In that moment we transcend our beliefs and other constructs of the ego to allow ourselves to experience once again (that is re-discover) Who We Really Are.
When this moment of transcendence has past some of our beliefs will no longer be consistent with our awakening experience and we will unconsciously choose to “forget” we had them! We may also choose to forget to forget (i.e. we remember) our Life’s Purpose. What is different about the Epiphany to the other ways of rediscovering our Life’s Purpose we shall be exploring is how quickly it happens. Also it appears to require no specific action or conscious effort on our part – it “just” happens (maybe!). * The foundation of the teachings of Conversations With God (see the link at the bottom of this newsletter) is that we are here on the physical Earth plane to recreate and experience Who We Really Are and that is what we a doing in every moment. This idea has HUGE implications! For example it would mean we are responsible for creating events such as Epiphanies and ..... 2 – Illness and Accidents
These two events are grouped together because both can give rise to the same opportunity – that of “Re-mission” (what a beautiful word!) Most of us know someone who has given themselves a new “lease of life” following an illness or accident. Such events are often considered a “wake up call”** leading the person to reorganise and reprioritise their life to spend the time they now know to be precious doing what they now realise is truly important to them. All that is another way of saying they start to live their Life’s Purpose and given time the illness or accident will be recognised as a “blessing in disguise”. Events such as illness and accidents can push (or lead) us to a point where the decision to change becomes inevitable. There are other ways too of reaching this point such as ..... 3 – A Defining Moment
Maybe a more accurate term would be a “redefining” moment. This is a point in time where our experience of reality becomes inconsistent with our beliefs about Who We Really Are and the experience creates a change in our beliefs something like a mini Epiphany, such moments are rare***. A defining moment may come following a spontaneous act (i.e. you did not have the opportunity to think first) of courage or compassion that you would not have believed yourself capable of. Following such an act you have the choice of adopting a new belief about Who You Really Are (often unconsciously) or dismissing the significance of the act (consciously). The redefining moment can lead to the adoption of a new belief and the opportunity to explore the possibility that if “all things happen for a reason”, could it be that this was a moment of (Divine) .....
4 - Inspiration (enough already - next month!) ** It’s all in our language! The terms used here enclosed in quotes are so much a part of our everyday language we often fail to acknowledge their true meaning.
*** see the article on Beliefs on the Mission Coach web site (the link is at the bottom of this newsletter). This Month's Tool Review This month we review the book “Excuse Me Your Life is Waiting : The astonishing power of positive feelings.” by Lynn Grabhorn, Published by Hampton Roads, ISBN 1-57174-381-2, 308 pages. Price on Amazon £7.69 (see the links at the bottom of this newsletter). This is a book I knew nothing about, it grabbed my attention in Borders in Oxford, I bought it believing it to be a rare find (even though it says “Best Seller” on the cover!), I read it, got enthusiastic about it and discovered many of the people I know already knew about it! The author (Lynn Grabhorn) doesn’t hang about, chapter 1 is titled “How we got in this mess”, it explores how we “create by feeling, not by thought” and uses the vibrating tuning fork analogy to explain the Law of Attraction and how “like attracts like”. We have been “taught backwards”, that working and doing is the only way to get the good things in life and she offers “Four Steps to Break out” of the mess which are covered in chapters 3,4,6 and 7. In chapter 2 she delves into the “expanded self”, the spiritual part of us that is vibrating at a much higher frequency than our physical self and communicates with us through our feelings. When we are feeling good “you’re vibrating closer to your real self”, we are connected and able to receive Guidance. Conversely when we feel bad we are disconnected. The “intention” to feel good is built into every one of us and that intention manifests as “desire”. “No, No, Not That” is the title of chapter 3 and covers the first of the 4 Steps by taking a look at what we don’t want. If we put our attention on our don’t wants we feel bad and put ourselves “out of sync” with our “Source energy”. The danger with don’t wants is that often we don’t realise we have them but when we do they can serve us; “A Don’t Want is a call to wake up, a call to come out of hiding, switch gears and pull in real life.” “Wants are about the most frightening, misunderstood, neglected element in the entire human race and I would lay odds that just thinking about them is more terrifying than a dentist chair without painkillers.” This quote appears on the first page of Chapter 4 which is Step 2 – deciding what you want. She explains that wants born of fear are cunningly disguised “don’t wants”, the true wants that get our vibration up are wants of desire. It is in this chapter she introduces the analogy of a “valve” that is open to the flow of energy when we are connected to our Source and closed when we are not. In chapter 5 we step out of the 4 Step process to find ways of getting our attention off of what we don’t want, “The challenge is to take our focus off the object of our anxieties or irritations and find the happier feeling of what we want in its place. In other words, we need to stop fixing and start feeling good.” She offers 4 “tricks” to achieve this. Back in the process at Step 3 in chapter 6 we explore why and how to turn on the good feelings that will get us vibrating, the sub-headings “Buzzing on Command”, “Jump Starting” and “Turn On, Turn On, Turn On!” give you a flavour. Chapter 7 is the final Step 4 of the process. In this chapter she looks at being open to guidance instead of “do-do-do” ing with our valves closed. Being passionate about our desires is also important; “Passion is about feeling your power ... You’re not only connected to the force of well-being, you are that force. This force is Life. This force is passion. And passion is creation.” The title of chapter 8 “money! money! money!” is a bit of a giveaway. “Money” is a top negative word which can lower our vibration, to change this we need to change our beliefs, the sections “Screw Old Beliefs” and “Writing a New Script” give the why and the how this can be done. In the “Just Remember” section at the end of the chapter are some valuable bullet points. In chapter 9 on relationships she talks openly about her own less than successful experiences of relationships and how blaming others for relationship failures lowers our vibration. She makes and interesting point about forgiveness; “It goes without saying that the exalted position of forgiveness can come about only after one has convicted. Which means that the way we look at forgiveness is not much different than blame”. The chapter closes with this statement; “Just open up your valve no matter what, no matter what, NO MATTER WHAT! The rest will take care of itself.” I think we get the message! In chapter 10 she looks at our physical well-being and states very clearly her belief about accidents and illness; “low frequency energy is the cause; body damage – either accident or illness – is the effect whether it’s been building for a few weeks or several decades.” She suggests using the “what if” technique to rewrite the script and turn ill health around. “Death is a Joke” is a sub-heading in this chapter; “we call it death, but the only thing that ceases to exist is your physical form, not You.” She considers all accidents and illness to be an act of co-creation. This quote nicely sums up this chapter; “The bottom line to all of this is that we simply have no damn business being sick, being in accidents, getting old, or even dying for that matter, but as we routinely turn off our wellness switch to block our cells from their source of Life with negative emotion, something’s bound to happen.” “Your suit of well-being” is a metaphor she uses in chapter 11 to describe the “valve open” state; “when our valve is open and we are allowing our primary energy to flood through us … there is not one blessed thing in this whole wide world that can harm us.” Under the sub-heading of “Bad Stuff” she answers the questions most asked of her of the “what about the starving people?” type including the question of rape, prejudice, the economy and global conflicts. She suggests the best way of changing these problems is to keep our own valves open; “Instead you could be seeing and feeeeeeling those starving as the healthy, happy people you know they have the wherewithal to be ..” Chapter 12 is the final chapter and promises “Thirty days to breakthrough”, the first paragraph contains an interesting confession! In this chapter she outlines a 30 day program and shares her own experience of doing it and how she coped with the challenges. This chapter and the book draws to a close with a useful summary of bulleted do’s and don’t and ends with; “You are in absolute control, headed toward reaping the sumptuous rewards of life that is – to the fullest extent of its possibilities – at long last being lived!” Conclusion
The author has bold beliefs which she shares clearly and emphatically and in a way that many people are likely to find challenging. I like her writing style, she uses the occasional swear word (“bloody”) which I found interesting and unusual for an American author and as a Brit I found somewhat endearing! Great book, get it, read it, do all you can to live it! You can buy it on Amazon (see the links at the bottom of this newsletter). Next month we will be reviewing “Overcoming Anger and Irritability” (What? I hear you cry - surely we are far to spiritual to read that kind of stuff! Next month we will find out). What's New at Mission Coach Coming Soon! The Mission Coach Web Log (Blog)
I have to confess at the time of writing this I am still unclear as to what my intention is in putting a Blog on the MC site other than I would really love for there to be a place were people can share their experiences, both “good” and “bad” of Living their Life’s Purpose. If you are an experienced “blogger” and have some suggestions as to how this could be best used please (please!) send me an email! (see the address at the bottom of this newsletter). Inspiring Quotations
The new design of the Mission Coach site enables us to have some juicy “Life’s Purpose” type quotations appearing. At the moment they are being randomly displayed so you are likely to see a different one on each page. If you have some quotations you find inspiring and believe others would too please email them to me (address at the bottom of this newsletter), please include the name of the person who made the quote too. Other Bits!
Version Numbers on Techniques
The world is changing as we change therefore the processes and techniques we use to facilitate change must also be open to change. I have a real problem with techniques which are “cast in stone” and considered to be the definitive version following “years of research” (and ego investment) in the technique being a certain way – everything can be improved! My vision of Mission Coach and Mission Coaching is that the concepts and techniques will always be innovative, provocative and open to change. That is why the techniques have version numbers! Back to front title of Achieve > Act > Commit
One of the things I love about the NLP (type of) techniques is that they create the opportunity to experience the successful outcome of an action BEFORE you take the action. To experience your Achievement gives you the motivation to take the Action, knowing your Action will lead to the Achievement makes it easy to Commit to taking that Action. We effectively start at the end and end at the start; Achieve > Act > Commit. If you are interested in this type of technique there will be an e-book of techniques coming in late spring. Links For This Edition of the Mission Coach Newsletter
To subscribe to the free Mission Coach newsletter click here:
http://www.mission-coach.co.uk/pages/mission_coach_newsletter.asp To go to the Mission and Money Group page click here:
http://www.mission-coach.co.uk/pages/mission_and_money.asp To go to the Mission Coach web site click here:
http://www.mission-coach.co.uk To order Conversations With God (Book 1) from Amazon (UK) click here:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340693258/selfleadershi-21 To order Conversations With God (Book 1) from Amazon (USA) click here:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399142789/missioncoach-20 To order “Excuse me your life is waiting” by Lynn Grabhorn from Amazon (UK) click here:
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0340834218/selfleadershi-21 To order “Excuse me your life is waiting” by Lynn Grabhorn from Amazon (USA) click here:
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1571743812/missioncoach-20 To go to the Beliefs and Belief Modelling page on the Mission Coach site click here:
http://www.mission-coach.co.uk/pages/beliefs.asp To email me (Paul Beeston) for; a copy the Achieve > Act > Commit technique in PDF, your advice on blogging, your favourite quotations, your comments:
paul@mission-coach.co.uk
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