Take, for example, a job I had to get done.  Now, I knew that it involved writing 28 pages in a day.  Right, that seemed pretty straightforward enough so I dutifully sat down and began typing.

Sometimes, the ideas would flow steadily with perhaps a brief pause here and there as my brain scanned its databases for the most appropriate word to use.  At other times, the ideas were a little less willing to stream through and those were the times when I would take a break and try and do something different.

When I got back, I would continue with a little more momentum than when I’d stopped but it wouldn’t be long before I was stalled yet again for an idea.

If you’re a writer, you’ll be very familiar with this sort of thing and more than likely take it philosophically as ‘par for the course’.

However, it occurred to me one day that, given that I’ve been writing for most of my life and that I’ve been writing ‘professionally’ for a good few years, shouldn’t this get easier?  Shouldn’t I be able to stick at something just a little bit longer and coax the writing muse to stay longer than it usually does?

Don’t get me wrong.  Breaks are wonderful and necessary.  But they don’t always create or cause greater efficiency.  What do I mean by that?

If I needed to write a 28 page document in one day, I should have been able to do it, given my experience, my knowledge, my skills etc.  After all, I’d done it before and I should be able to do it again whenever I wish to.  But why wasn’t it getting any easier?  Why didn’t I feel I was getting ‘better’ at it?

Pondering these questions triggered the ‘ah-ha’ moment.  I realized that what I hadn’t done but ought to have done was set myself mini-goals, or sub-goals, if you like.

For instance, I could have broken down the 28 pages per day into say, 7 pages per hour.  That would have enabled me to complete the job in 4 hours.  Or, I could have set myself a less demanding pace and decided to complete the job in 7 hours, which would have meant 4 pages per hour.

Within these time frames, I could easily allow for breaks thus keeping a fresh and steady momentum.

So what is the ‘elusive obvious’ here?

It’s this:

The brain is most efficient when it has more immediate, measurable and frequently occurring targets.

Blindingly obvious, you say?  I agree, ‘cept we don’t always remember, do we?  And we don’t always apply it to all our goals, do we?

28 pages a day is a good enough target when you have 28 such chunks to complete in the next 28 days.  The brain then organizes itself according to the 28 days and the subconscious ‘pressure’ to complete 28 pages each day is active and effective.

However, when the 28 pages in one day is a one-off, non-recurring event, then the brain requires more immediate, measurable and frequently occurring targets or goals.  The ‘pressure’ is set off at each hour and you’re more likely to stick to the demands of each hour i.e. 4 (or 7) pages rather than hang loose by a less immediate and less frequent demand such as ‘a day’.  After all, when does the ‘day’ start for you?  When does it end?  A day is an adjustable target, an hour isn’t!

Does this make sense?  I hope so.  If not, consider this:  Which of the following requests is likely to get you acting more efficiently i.e. producing the most suitable response in the least amount of time :

• Please be ready for dinner this evening
• Please be ready for dinner in the next 30 minutes?

Or, how about this one.  Which of these is going to get you moving real fast:

• Walk fast because there might be snakes in the area
• Walk fast because there’s a snake right behind you?

Yes, your brain’s efficiency increases when the targets are immediate, measurable and frequently occurring :).

But now, here’s the more important reason for sharing all this with you:

When it comes to ‘personal development’ goals, these too operate by the same principles.  You would be more successful with them if they too were broken down to more ‘immediate, measurable and frequently occurring’ goals!

Yes, the goals of happiness and freedom and prosperity can and should be broken down into sub-goals with more immediate, measurable and frequently occurring time frames.

Now, if you’ve read this far and are keen to know what I mean by that and what examples I might offer you, I dare say you’re going to be disappointed, if not irked, by what I’m about to suggest.

Why?  Because I’m sure you’ve heard it before and perhaps chosen to ignore it or didn’t think you could do it or even tried and didn’t succeed or perhaps simply had no idea how to do it.

Well, despite the risk of leaving you disappointed and/or irked, here is what I suggest when it comes to the goals of happiness, freedom and prosperity:

Break them down to the immediate and frequently (constantly) occurring goal of…

NOW.

Indeed, it’s the only way you’ll ever ‘achieve’ them!  Imagine, intend and allow happiness, prosperity and freedom NOW.  It’s not just a metaphysical goal, it’s a proven method for getting your brain to cooperate with you in achieving your goals.

If you have any doubt about the effectiveness of this, just remember:

What you see in your immediate reality are the EFFECTS of PAST thoughts, imaginations, intentions and permissions.

If you wish to see different things i.e. EFFECTS in your future reality, set yourself the immediate goal of imagining, intending and allowing them NOW.

Do it.  NOW.

Love always

Lucy

Awakening to Happiness, Prosperity and Freedom NOW!

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You know that when you’ve planted a seed, whether in a pot or the ground, that you really should leave it be.  I mean, you know that you’d destroy its ability to germinate and grow if you were to dig it up everyday to check that it was ‘doing something’, right?

You also know that you will help and enhance its ability to germinate and grow by providing the right conditions for it, such as the right kind of soil, a suitable amount of water and the right position in relation to other plants (including weeds), sunlight and water drainage.  Without these conditions, your seed may never grow or it might take a very long time and even then, the plant it produces is likely to be unhealthy.

As for digging up your seed, it is as if you are trying to tell it or show it how to be a seed and how to germinate and grow!  But you know that is best left to the seed and its ‘innate intelligence’, don’t you?

I’ve noticed for some time now that the same principles hold true in all areas of life (including raising children and growing relationships!).  Take an intention or goal that you have, for instance.  It is rather like a seed which has its own ‘intelligence’ if you like.  ‘Digging’ it up, whether frequently or infrequently, will not give it the chance and freedom to grow!  It’s like trying to show the seed how to be a seed!  What you do have to do instead is provide the right conditions for your ’seed’/intention to germinate and grow.

So, what are the right conditions?

It depends on what your intention or goal is.  If, for example, your intention is to be happy, filling your mind with unhappy thoughts, judging people and things to be anything but good, seeking revenge or wanting to outdo someone are all poor ‘conditions’ for your intention.

Clearly, the ‘right’ conditions for this particular seed would be to do the things that allow you to be happy, things such as being grateful, having joyous, uplifting conversations, thinking and speaking well of yourself and others, collaborating rather than competing and looking for the good in everyone and everything.

The same principle can be applied to any intention or goal.  If your intention is to have financial independence, constantly doubting or questioning this intention is equivalent to digging up your seed to see if it is doing what it needs to be doing!  Don’t expect it to grow.

On the other hand, by providing the right conditions for its growth, you will be supporting and enhancing the growth/manifestation of your intention.

So, what might these conditions be?

The best way to provide the right conditions is to think in terms of ‘If I were financially independent, what would my life be like?  What decisions would I be making?  What work would I be doing?  What passions would I be engaging?  Who would I spend my time with?  How would I behave, speak, and think?  What goals would I set for myself?

Once you have your answers, act on them.  Even if you took one small action in relation to each of your answers, you would be providing excellent conditions for your intention/’seed’ to grow and manifest!  There is always at least one small action that you can take.  ALWAYS!

Now here is something else that you should be aware of.  When you start providing the right conditions for your ’seed’/intention, you are activating a mindset of ‘expectancy‘.   This is a powerful psychological space to be in.  Expectancy is a magnet or frequency bandwidth that attracts or resonates with matching frequencies.  In other words, expectancy attracts that which you have intended!

So, what seed have you been wanting to plant?  What seed have you planted and been counter-productively digging up to try and tell it how to do its job?  What seed have you planted without providing the ‘right conditions’?

Whatever seed you have, stop digging it up and start providing it with the right conditions now.  Start by making sure that you have planted it in the right place, where there are no ‘weeds’ i.e. thoughts, beliefs, words and actions that work against it.

(For example, if your seed is financial independence, a weed that you do not want is the belief that financial independence for you is impossible or hard).

Provide the other conditions such as thoughts, words,  beliefs and people (if you can find them) that support your intention.  Take action, no matter how small.  It is not the size of the action that matters.  It is that you act in support of your intention, your seed!  Do it now!

Blessings

Lucy Lopez

Awakening to Happiness!

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