#UnBlockYourself: Recent Episodes
JeffDBanks
UnBlockYourself helps you get out of your own way. Unblock your mind, body, spirit, finances, and social interactions to increase to become all that you are called to be!
Tea philosophies:
- Perfection in the imperfection: Beauty in originality age, being an individual
- Time: Past, present, future.
- A sense of purpose: living out who you are called to be
Tea Conversations brings you into the present, in the moment, while you reflect on the past to create a better future to come
The bankable connection in tea is truly the relationships strengthened in each tea service
- Relationship with God
- Relationship within yourself
- Relationship with friends family and others
Questions:
What good shall i do today?
( if you can answer this before the day begins you have already set goals you will be working on for the end of the day’s reflection
Where did I grow today?
Who did I help?
What did I do well today?
How can I make tomorrow even better?
Yuko and Jeff deep dive into cultural perspectives on food, family, faith, lifestyles, and points of view.
Tea Time 31: Grow to where you want to grow!
“You can have more than you’ve got because you can become more than you are. The other side of the coin is, Unless you change who you are, you will always have what you got.”
For things to change for you, you have to change, or things aren’t going to change.
Jim Rohn
He was also talking about how income does not far exceed personal development. Sometimes it can take a lucky jump, but unless you grow out to where it is, it will always come back to where you are. He gave this example, "Its been said that if all the money in the world was taken and divided up, and given to everyone equally, It would soon all be back in the same pockets."
Let's grow to where we want to be!
Can you imagine waking up and reading the morning news to see how everyone thought of you because they thought that you had passed?
If you don't think that you'd like what others would say about you, now would be a perfect time to change the public's opinion.
Reflect on what you have been doing, and if there needs to be changes, how can you start?
Tea Time 29: To forgive and accept forgiveness
For a relationship to move forward, a conversation and/or an agreement needs to take place. Forgiveness, and also the acceptance of forgiveness.
Tea Time 28: How you are being treated may be a reflection of you.
Life maybe "returning the favor". How you are being treated may be a reflection of you and how you actually treat others. Many of the things we experience through relationships and interactions are the very "favors" being returned to us.
Tea Time 27: Healing and Hurtful Words.
Words can get under your skin and heal or get on top and grind away.
Tea Time 25: You are in a good place…
Sometimes I get complacent where I am and I end up trying to break free and enter a space where I do not belong. This really frustrates the system. I’m frustrated because everything is against me. The environment is frustrated because it has to contend with an outside influence that it was not prepared to handle quite yet.
God has us where we are to grow and learn and then move on to next phases at the appropriate time.
Tea Time 24: Things are working for your good.
Romans 8:28 is one of my foundation scriptures that keeps me look at things in a positive light when things don't go the way I really wanted them to go.
Tea Time 23: Do you have a habit of playfully testing God?
I sometimes say what I can to get what I want out of my moments with God, and that really is not a good thing.
I believe He listens to what we want, but I also believe that we should get to know Him and not test the limits.
Its easy to see what's right in front of us. But we have to look at the big picture to understand what God is doing in front, behind, and all around us, making things work for our good.
Tea Time 21: understanding signs and having the right focus to deal with them appropriately.
Tea Time 20: Rejecting God's Help
Many times over the years I can look beck and see where I humbly and respectfully declined God's help, even though I may have asked for it.
Tea Time 19: Gotta get out there!
Do you have a solution to a problem? Are you taking that solution to those who need it? Or are you waiting on them to find you?
Tea Time 18: Are leaning on God's Wisdom?
Thinking big and according to your God given vision will put you into some God-Sized-Thinking situations!
Do you call upon His wisdom daily? Thinking small doesn't really require much, but are you thinking big enough to know that "this is going to take God to make this happen..." type thoughts?
Many of our stories and experience are setup for our testimony so that when others hear them, they build their faith too, and everyone benefits.
Tea Time 17: Honor the giver by using the gift as the giver intended!
My reflection time comes from a statement my pastor gave today. "The giver is far more important than the gift".
As we reflect on the many blessings we've been given:
Don't let the gift replace the giver.
Don't let the gift cause you to forget the giver.
Treasure the gift, and honor the giver.
Honor the giver by using the gift as the giver intended!
Tea Time 16: What are you looking at?
How you view others is important, but where are you looking? People try to put up many faces and facades, but looking on the inside, thought process and mindsets will reveal a clearer picture to you. Showing you their character and motives behind their behaviors!
Tea Time 15: Are you building your network?
Two questions: Are you building your network? and to dig a little deeper, what kind? What kind of people are you trying to put in place to help you grow and go to the next level?
Tea Time 14: Do you have any life philosophies?
Last of the five pillars calls for you to understand your ways of life. To guide you, you should develop things like core values, and life philosophies. The things you live by help you to live through the things that try to stand in your way!
Tea Time 13: Can you find peace in what you are doing?
We are learning that we should find peace in what we do. Also we should mix and blend unlikely components or new things we learn and experience to make things harmonious and balanced.
Tea Time 12: Are you learning new things?
Today we looked at maintaining a good relationship with people even when we disagree with them. On top of that, learning new things while still remaining true to ourselves.
Tea Time 11: How are you staying balanced?
Balance, Peace, and Harmony. Let's keep ourselves level headed and radiating who God wants us to be.
Tea Time 10: What words describe you?
What words are being used to describe you when others are talking about you? Does this line up with who you want to be and how you want to be described?
Tea Time 9: Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. So what delights you? When your desires and His desires line up, that's usually when the door is open abundantly!
Tea Time 8: Who has God put in your path to help you and you haven't even noticed?
Have you looked at your circle of influence lately? Are there ones in it who seem to really have your back? Are they there to help you and you haven't directly communicated your vision to them yet?
Tea Time 7: Are your words building or tearing down the relationships you are trying to establish?
Tea Time 6: Are your words, thoughts, and actions leading to results? Let the things we say and do make deposits and build relationships!
Tea Time 5: What words are on repeat in your head?
Like a never ending song playing over and over again in your head, what are words or sayings that also stick in there? How do think it affects your thoughts and actions?
Tea Time 4: Are You Using Your Skills For Yourself? or Your Purpose... I find when we discover our gifts we usually try to use it to make a profit from them. But was that what they were intended for us to do with them? Think about it.
Tea Time 3: Have positioned yourself to where you are unstoppable? (all things will be working for your good!) When we are functioning in our purpose we often find ourselves in the position where the know how and experience we have acquired keeps us in peace and safety no matter what is happening around us.
Tea Time 2: In todays tea time we are talking about you doing your best and giving your all. Are we doing our best, or is it just good enough?
Wabi-Sabi overall is finding perfection in the imperfections... finding strength in our weaknesses.
Wabi deals with the beauty in uniqueness, individuality, singularity.
Sabi shows respect to the aged, weathered, antique, defects, and mistakes.
A little history:
Sen Rikyu was considered the "godfather of the tea ceremony"
-
Tea Ceremony was designed to bring peace in oneself, and peace to Lords and politicians, higher ups...
-
It became a way to show off, be flashy, and display how much better you were than every one else.
-
Rikyu stripped it down to bare essentials, and wabi sabi focused on the simplicity of materials used.
-
The humbled tea ceremony took the focus off of the vain materialistic aspects, and returned the focus back to the participants sharing in the moment.
We are all a Masterpiece, we carry a piece of the Master within us. This “piece” is purpose, which He plants deep within us to have His will fulfilled in the earth.
Adapted From Trust & Inspire:
We all have purpose inside each of us, although sometimes it is just dormant, the seed is always there it just needs the right conditions to flourish.
Our desires to accomplish something causes us to start to line up the right conditions to awaken the potential within us. We need to recognize that there is power in the seed. We need to nurture it so that this seed within us can flourish… not unlike the soil, water, air, and sunlight that enable a seed to grow. As it grows, we start to see that our purpose will begin to “show and grow”, becoming an unstoppable force toward its goal.
Adapted From Mastery:
When our purpose seed planted deep within us starts to grow, it has a voice which calls us to that authentic being is what we call "vocation." But the majority of us will devote all of our time trying to silence that voice and refuse to hear it. This is because it is unique to us, and since it is not the “norm”, we stand out. Not to stand out, we would have to distract ourselves in order not to hear it by substituting our genuine selves and authentic voice from our purpose for the a false, “this is what everyone is doing” voice that calls us to conform to social norms.
All of us are born unique. This uniqueness is marked genetically in our DNA. We are a one-time phenomenon in the universe-our exact genetic makeup has never occurred before nor will it ever be repeated.
Our plans are how we design them to be.
Design your day before you start it.
Design your week before you start your day.
Design your month before you start the week.
This gets you to start living life by design.
Put yourself in the center of your design.
I have a pond with a fountain in it. The water is constantly and consistently disturbed. Ripples are always flowing from the center of this distraction in the water. About 20 feet away though, the water is calm. Sometimes it’s so still at night it is like a mirror reflecting the night sky.
It reminds me of how the tides of life can have these rippling and calming moments. Now, by design, where do we place ourselves? It’s according to what we want at the moment. If we want to be busy, or live fast paced, we place ourselves near the fountain. At times we want peace, we put into plans for moments of peace.
Everything according to your design.
When we design our lives, and things go according to our plans, we live in the moment instead of living for the moment. Every moment is an Ichigo Ichie.
5 Questions to Unlock and Unblock Yourself:
Using the past, present, and future for our self-development, we need to ask ourselves:
- Where did I come from?
- Do I view my life and it's lessons and schooling? (Is life teaching me something to prepare me for something bigger?
- What am I working on?
- What am I working with?
- Where am I going?
Answer honestly and you may see things you can use from your past right now, to build that future you are called to live out!
Your Mission is to Master Your Message 3
Involve others.
Elevate your position to get a new perspective.
Your Mission is to Master Your Message 2.
Stay your lane. To master our message, we cannot be side tracked easily which will take away our message's effectiveness. Staying on point will help you develop and earn your 10,000 hours towards mastery of your special message.
Your Mission is to Master Your Message:
To master something it will take time, focus, intention, and action.
The seed will be your focused intention on doing or creating something.
Seeds have the potential to become great orchards.
Do you have your team in place?
“I am weak, yet I am strong” 2 Cor. 12:9-10
A basket ball team has specific players with a specific jobs. There 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a center. Who is in your starting lineup?
Even though you may be the center for your team, let it be the God within you who make the plays!
Who are your most admired people through history? What made them so different?
I can bet that the thing that separated them from everyone else around them is that they thought different.
Now, to you. What makes you different? Did you know that the problems you solve are there for you to solve them? (Maybe with a little help too)
Your problems may have been hand picked for your to sit down and solve, quietly, strategically, prayerfully, mentally scanning all possibilities for the best outcomes to share with the rest of the world! There is no one else like you. You got this.
How do you define success? It could be from just making it into heaven, becoming a millionaire, or just having a “happy wife, happy life”.
No matter how you define it, it is achieved in only one way. Satisfy the customer.
There are five rules to secure a successful relationship between you and your customer.
- Know who your customer is.
- Your rewards will be in exact proportion to your service.
- The more effort you put into satisfying the customer, the more rewards you will receive.
- Treat others as you want to be treated.
- Find a way to improve everyday.
Purpos3ful Pathway Intro:
Uniqueness / Wabi Sabi:
Psalm 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
You are a masterpiece.
- You carry a piece of the master. He blew breathe into our lungs and they have will not stop until we die. Not only the breath, also the ability to think and imagine, and then execute.
- Masterfully Crafted. As before, we are crafted, formed, and verified before time began.
- Masterfully Branded. You are branded with God’s character, nature, and intent.
- Character: Holy, Set Apart -We have our own individual identity
- Nature: He cannot lie - Most of us have a degree of integrity
- Intention: Goodwill - We want to good for those we love, and even others to a certain degree.
We are unique: A concept of Wabi Sabi is this: accept yourself for who you are. There is perfection in the imperfections, God knew what He was doing when he made you, so you might as well be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.
Wabi Sabi is a mindset shift that looks at the imperfections of things and finds the beauty in it. There is greatness in you being the only one. You can be the only you that can reach the people only you can. God said that you are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that is no mistake. Your mistakes and quirkiness are your character, and the sum of experience has created you to be were you are for such a time as this. You are here to turn hurts in to healing, applying your experiences as a balm to others so they won’t have to suffer through the same things.
Present / Ichigo Ichie:
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
Ephesians 5:15-17 NIV
From wikipedia, “chi-go ichi-e (Japanese: 一期一会, pronounced [it͡ɕi.ɡo it͡ɕi.e], lit. "one time, one meeting") is a Japanese four-character idiom (yojijukugo) that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. The term has been translated as "for this time only", and "once in a lifetime". The term reminds people to cherish any gathering that they may take part in, citing the fact that any moment in life cannot be repeated; even when the same group of people get together in the same place again, a particular gathering will never be replicated, and thus each moment is always a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Trying to translate it, you will get that ichigo” means “one life or time” and “ichie” means “a one-time encounter or meeting.”
Meaningful Worth Living / Igikai-kan:
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”
Proverbs 29:18
Finding the reason for being, and allowing that to be the source for a long, fulfilled life.
Everyone and everything has purpose. We are all at our peak existence when we our serving and doing what we are designed to do.
- A chair was designed to be sat on. When it constantly used as a ladder, the pressure on the legs make it weak and wobbly, eventually breaking. if you have a pulse, then you have a purpose.
- The meaning of life is to live a meaningful life.
These will start you on your vision. The vision is the end goal. It is the fuel to keep us going to get to the vision. The path is blurry and dark, rocky and dangerous, but also the fulfilling and the most rewarding. He does not show us the whole path because we would not be able to fathom the greatness and give up immediately.
So we MUST have a connection to God and a connection to others.
This is where I came up with the term unblockyourself, and I started unblocking myself.
As I’m getting ready to leave for the day, I keep being reminded of this: I have everything I need. I’m taken care of. Also, I pretty much have access to everything I want. Like a game, it needs to be unlocked.God unlocks.I have to #UnBlockYourself (myself) to get to it.
So today's episode is about connecting.
Connect to God to unlock.
Connect to yourself to unblock and get out of the way of what He is doing in your life! (And Mine!)
Roadmap to unblock yourself
Over the past 5 years we’ve pretty much developed a pattern to really getting close to the inner you. This will basically be the next 48 Episodes for the rest of 2023!
Unblocking yourself:
- Getting out of our own way
- Mind
- Body
- Spirit
- Finances
- Social Interactions
- Summary: a closed fist
Unblocking your potential:
- Aspirations
- Roles
- Expectations
- Showing Appreciation
- Summary: AREA at work
Unblocking your balance:
- Harmony
- Respect
- Purity
- Tranquility
- Summary: Chowa
Unblocking your clarity:
- Wabikigai
- Wabi Sabi
- Kanso
- Fukinsei
- Shibumi
- Yugen
- Shizen
- Datsuzoku
- Seijaku
- Ichigo ichie
- Past Present Future
- Ikigai
- Life worth Living
- Summary - Wabikigai Adventure
Unblocking your actions:
- Purpose
- Vision
- Mission
- Summary: Drive to accomplish great things
Unblocking Your Connections:
- Self to God
- Kinstugi
- Self to Others
- Where you fit in
- Emotional Bank Accounts
- Self to Self
- Idioms & Proverbs
- Inputs and Outcomes
- Summary: what you put in is related to what you’re getting out
Unblocking your flow
- Flow
- How you see things
- Summary: the beaver: Bottlenecking the flow little by littleRoadmap to unblock yourself
Over the past 5 years we’ve pretty much developed a pattern to really getting close to the inner you. This will basically be the next 48 Episodes for the rest of 2023!
Unblocking yourself:
+ Getting out of our own way
+ Mind
+ Body
+ Spirit
+ Finances
+ Social Interactions
+ Summary: a closed fistUnblocking your potential:
+ Aspirations
+ Roles
+ Expectations
+ Showing Appreciation
+ Summary: AREA at workUnblocking your balance:
+ Harmony
+ Respect
+ Purity
+ Tranquility
+ Summary: ChowaUnblocking your clarity:
+ Wabikigai
+ Wabi Sabi
- Kanso
- Fukinsei
- Shibumi
- Yugen
- Shizen
- Datsuzoku
- Seijaku
+ Ichigo ichie
- Past Present Future
+ Ikigai
- Life worth Living
+ Summary - Wabikigai AdventureUnblocking your actions:
+ Purpose
+ Vision
+ Mission
+ Summary: Drive to accomplish great thingsUnblocking Your Connections:
+ Self to God
- Kinstugi
+ Self to Others
- Where you fit in
- Emotional Bank Accounts
+ Self to Self
- Idioms & Proverbs
+ Inputs and Outcomes
+ Summary: what you put in is related to what you’re getting outUnblocking your flow
+ Flow
+ How you see things
+ Summary: the beaver: Bottlenecking the flow little by little
UnBlockYourself 2023 Thought 3:
You can’t physically treat non-physical issues.
We’ve been conditioned to treat things like depression, heartbreak, or negative forms of stress with pills, shots, and alcohol.
We tend to get hooked on treating the results, not address the root of the issue. For example, we may be sluggish and low on energy. But instead of eating healthier, or foods that may give us a boost, we may drink energy drinks.
When we do this, it only treats the symptoms and the problems keeps coming. I have that problem too, but doing this will not bring it to an end. Treating things this way makes us responsive, not proactive. We only will handle things when it gets bad enough to where we can’t take it. We have to get to the root of the problems. We have to sometimes go 7 degrees of “why?” to get to the bottom.
For our adventure to continue, when we come up against a wall, we know we have to get to the why of it so we know how to become victorious over it. A tea time, or meditation, time alone with God can help reveal things on a deeper, spiritual level, instead of just the resulting symptoms.
Stay looking ahead and moving forward, you will always move towards the direction you are looking!
UnBlockYourself 2023 Thought 2:
Your Wabikigai Adventure
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
There is an adventure that has been created just for you. Wabikigai is a mash up of three of my favorite words, and it is at the core of our theme for this year.
The “Wabi” in wabikigai is for Wabi Sabi.
This is how this adventure is unique to you. Unique, timeless, and beautiful are the experiences that have been created for your journey.
Speaking of timeless, Ichigo Ichie is next.
It boils down to “once in a lifetime moment” happening during each of your experiences.
Last is Ikigai, one of my favorites. It is living a full life by functioning in your purpose. We have many hats, some wanted and unwanted, but there are a few that impacts not only us, but goes on to shine a light in a dark world. This light and life we have changes the world around us. Never take that lightly!
This year we are set to do great and wonderful things. Be ready for trials because it has to be tested, but on the other side is the greatest testimony to the greatest experiences you’ll ever have if you seek them and hold to them tight!
Let’s Go!
UnBlockYourself 2023 Thought 1:
Your intent will be tested.
Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution and failed miserably? Things large or small I notice whenever I declare, “This is what I want to do!” It gets tried immediately. From, “All I want to do is to make up the bed”, to, “I want to buy a new car”, will al be tested. If I try to make the bed, I get up late, or the bed feels so good I don’t get up on time, or an employee calls in which means I have to rush to get things in place… anything. I want to buy this, all of the sudden a great opportunity comes up to buy something else, car breaks down, your best friend really needs to borrow some money and they know you have it… anything.
But WHY??? I asked myself this over and over. Finally the answer came. It is to test the strength and the very essence of what you believe. If you fail, one of two things happen. You either give up, or you press through and learn from it. You will either turn and find something better, or you will become stronger with even greater momentum because you have improved from your mistakes.
It all works for your good. Your greater good. God’s got you. (Romans 8:28)
I liked this acronym for FAIL:
First
Attempt
In
Learning
Keep moving forward!
UnBlockYourself 429 - Benefits and Balance
Last episode we talked about how All roads (your thoughts and actions) lead back to your core of your being, the core values you have established within you. Your homework was to start to define your core values, so you’ll see where you will end up going with you your actions, and they also serve as a beacon of light to help in decision making too. Ultimately what you do will usually be leaning towards your success.
Brings us to today.
Prayerfully develop a working definition of what your success is, what it looks like, and write it down.
What will be the benefit of your success?
If you have things the way you want it (your success and vision fulfilled) what benefit is it to God?
What benefit is it to the world?
Why should God help you get there?
The questions help us to see where are motives are, if inspired by God or man, if self centered or not, if it has the potential to get you in trouble if you go all out for it.
We can find ourselves wandering off in the wrong direction when things are too self centered, and at the end, we find it amounts to nothing or taken away. Build our legacies that will last for generations, for our children and our children’s children.
UnBlockYourself 429 - Benefits and Balance
Last episode we talked about how All roads (your thoughts and actions) lead back to your core of your being, the core values you have established within you. Your homework was to start to define your core values, so you’ll see where you will end up going with you your actions, and they also serve as a beacon of light to help in decision making too. Ultimately what you do will usually be leaning towards your success.
Brings us to today.
Prayerfully develop a working definition of what your success is, what it looks like, and write it down.
What will be the benefit of your success?
If you have things the way you want it (your success and vision fulfilled) what benefit is it to God?
What benefit is it to the world?
Why should God help you get there?
The questions help us to see where are motives are, if inspired by God or man, if self centered or not, if it has the potential to get you in trouble if you go all out for it.
We can find ourselves wandering off in the wrong direction when things are too self centered, and at the end, we find it amounts to nothing or taken away. Build our legacies that will last for generations, for our children and our children’s children.
UnBlockYourself 428
All roads (your thoughts and actions) lead back to your core of your being, the core values you have established within you.
“To put it simply, vision is what the world would be like if we succeeded. Mission, on the other hand, is what we must do for the world to reflect the vision.”
The "Core Values" you have in you are the principals, rules, and boundaries that dictate your behaviors.
We need to define our values.
Establish core values that:
Guide and ground your actions that will help you accomplish your vision and mission
represent who you are (or want to be) at your best, set you apart, and incorporate Wabi Sabi, Ichigo Ichie, and Ikigai as it pertains to you.
All actions lead back to the core of your being because they instinctively dictate your behaviors.
Living out your ikigai is an extension of your core values.
UnBlockYourself 428
All roads (your thoughts and actions) lead back to your core of your being, the core values you have established within you.
“To put it simply, vision is what the world would be like if we succeeded. Mission, on the other hand, is what we must do for the world to reflect the vision.”
The "Core Values" you have in you are the principals, rules, and boundaries that dictate your behaviors.
We need to define our values.
Establish core values that:
Guide and ground your actions that will help you accomplish your vision and mission
represent who you are (or want to be) at your best, set you apart, and incorporate Wabi Sabi, Ichigo Ichie, and Ikigai as it pertains to you.
All actions lead back to the core of your being because they instinctively dictate your behaviors.
Living out your ikigai is an extension of your core values.
UnBlockYourself 427 Wabikigai in your influence
One of my favorite mentors John C. Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
One of our many purposes in being in this life at this moment in time is to impact our circle of influence, blessing those who God has put in our path.
Wabikigai is a made up word consisting of 3 philosophies:
- Wabi Sabi: Discovering perfection in the imperfect
- Ichigo Ichie: Being in the moment
- Ikigai: Living a full life through fulfilling your purposes
Influence has its place within all of these.
Wabi Sabi: When you break down the concept of wabi sabi you get:
Wabi - Simplistic, minimalistic design to provide what you need.
Sabi - The beauty in aging, and uniqueness of something.
This is the internal influence, the things we see, do, and hear that influences us. The things that have influenced and are influencing us shapes what we will be doing to and for others.
Ichigo Ichie: Once in a life time moments. The time we spend within our hearts and in intimate company with others. This is were we build the energy to influence ourselves and others. This is were we build strength in relationships eternally, internally, and externally.
Ikigai: Living a full life through purpose. This is our external influence at work. This is how we impact our circle of influence and the world by just being ourselves, doing what we were called to do. For some it may be preaching the gospel, for others, it could be teaching your kids how to fish. Both relate to your influence, and both could have a lasting impression that could impact the receiver’s generations long after them. What we do here and now, carries weight. If you are intentional, you are intentionally making a difference to change the future of the world!
UnBlockYourself 427 Wabikigai in your influence
One of my favorite mentors John C. Maxwell says, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.”
One of our many purposes in being in this life at this moment in time is to impact our circle of influence, blessing those who God has put in our path.
Wabikigai is a made up word consisting of 3 philosophies:
- Wabi Sabi: Discovering perfection in the imperfect
- Ichigo Ichie: Being in the moment
- Ikigai: Living a full life through fulfilling your purposes
Influence has its place within all of these.
Wabi Sabi: When you break down the concept of wabi sabi you get:
Wabi - Simplistic, minimalistic design to provide what you need.
Sabi - The beauty in aging, and uniqueness of something.
This is the internal influence, the things we see, do, and hear that influences us. The things that have influenced and are influencing us shapes what we will be doing to and for others.
Ichigo Ichie: Once in a life time moments. The time we spend within our hearts and in intimate company with others. This is were we build the energy to influence ourselves and others. This is were we build strength in relationships eternally, internally, and externally.
Ikigai: Living a full life through purpose. This is our external influence at work. This is how we impact our circle of influence and the world by just being ourselves, doing what we were called to do. For some it may be preaching the gospel, for others, it could be teaching your kids how to fish. Both relate to your influence, and both could have a lasting impression that could impact the receiver’s generations long after them. What we do here and now, carries weight. If you are intentional, you are intentionally making a difference to change the future of the world!
UnBlockYourself 425: The choice is yours
Over the years, at the end of our prayer time with the kids and staff at the center, Ms. B. has graced us with wisdom and gave us this charge as we would start our day: “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.”
There is so much packed into this one statement.
First off, there has to be a decision made. Not only that, but the power to make this day a great day or not has been given to us.
And I’ll tell you this, every decision to act or not act affects the rest of your life. The decision to have just one more cookie can lead to high blood sugar on down the road because “just one more” lead to another and another and another. On the flip side, saving that money from not going out can cause you to like your own cooking, which leads to you cooking for yourself, and then others, and then a restaurant, and multiple locations and now you’re a retired multi millionaire because of those decisions.
The choice you make also comes from how you view things. I think of your mind having its own positive and negative filtration system. So many situations are neutral, but the you see will be determined by how it’s filtered.
I had one of my tropical plants really just shrivel up and die on me. I saw it as dead, it was sad and I never got around to throwing it away. But to my plant lady, (Ms Nancy) she sees that all the time, “it just needs a plant vacation” (sit it outside for some sun, water, and air). Not dead at all.
We may see hopeless fixer upper, but some with an eye for it may see a gold mine.
So the decision is ours.
We choose greatness or not.
It is an ongoing thing.
We make the choices by the filters we use in our mind.
Lastly, we influence the filters by what we allow to influence them.
Another choice causing greatness or not.
The old cliché is that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and get this if you fill your eyes with trash, trash will be the only thing you are able to see.
UnBlockYourself 424: abiding in the vine of your vision
““I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.”
John 15:5-8 MSG
Applying this to our vision, it has to be a living breathing thing we set out to embrace and have dwell within us. When it is living within us, and it also is something that we are living by, we bear fruit. We start to see results. If there is a gap in the results from all of our efforts or non-efforts we’re putting into it, we may have to check if we have strayed or completely separated from the vision given.
Side Note - If this is a God-given vision for our life, we have to also make sure we do not stray or separate from God AND the Vision alike. We may see results, and they may seem good, but ultimately can lead us down a path where we end up worshipping the created, rather than the creator. The problem God was having with people was that they would start to prosper, and then forget the mission, vision, where it came from, and what it was for. Be careful!
Along these same lines, if there are somethings that are being used to create your vision, or fulfill your mission, and they are not producing fruit for you, you may have to evaluate them to see if they have become dead wood that needs to be pruned. Pruning cuts off less than useful things and allows for the energy from it to be diverted to the more useful areas, causing growth. Consider these things as you work out your ikigai!
UnBlockYourself 423: if not me, then who?
Vision is a picture given as a picture of us fulfilling our calling.
“To put it simply, vision is what the world would be like if we succeeded. Mission, on the other hand, is what we must do for the world to reflect the vision.”
With this in mind, ikigai is what we say, do, and feel in our everyday lives that supplies the mission and vision. The more aware of your ikigai working itself out through you, the greater the impact you will have on your circle of influence.
Take your time. Your purpose is big, and multifaceted. There are many moving parts to this life, and It can only be handled by you, and you are not small. In fact, you plus God is a majority. When those world changing ideas pop up in your head, you’re going to have to say, “if not me, then who?”
UnBlockYourself 422: Unblock to Unlock
Unblocking your potential, and living a full life is the focus for this season. There are few core concepts that I’m learning about, and we’ll discover some hidden truths and some misconceived theories that and I’m uncovering almost on a daily basis.
I’m excited! New season, New discoveries, New ways to move forward into a new life.
Two Core Philosophies I’m developing myself in:
A.R.E.A - Aspirations, Roles, Expectations, Appreciation - This unblocks potential in relations. (God, Self, Others)
The next is what drives me, Wabikigai (a word I made up)
Wabi Sabi - enjoying the beauty and perfection in the imperfections
Ichigo Ichie - being in the moment, once in a lifetime happenings
Ikigai - reasons and driving forces behind your vision and purpose
My belief is that when start to “unblock” ourselves we start to “unlock” ourselves.
We can live life to the fullest, even if it is physically cut short. Not only that, but the things we do and the people we touch live on even when we are no longer here.
My brother loved music, it was one of his many passions. Truly a part of his ikigai. some of the things he loved and touch others with lives on today, even though he has been gone for almost 2 years. Often in the background you can hear tracks he made for this podcast and see a painting he painted in this room.
What are some of the things you are living for? What are some of the visions you have for your life? Are you stepping towards them? Your vision and purposes mixed with the fire of your passion to accomplish them, makes you unstoppable. Will the things you are doing now extend further than your life? Like Dr. King, do you have a dream? His continues this day, so should yours!
Like I've been saying this week, I've been struggling with trying to be everything I'm supposed to be (the I see me in my head). But God was showing me where I decided to make a change, and where I decided to surrender and allow Him to develop me. The areas are vastly different. Like this, I decided on my own that I will not be broke any more. I said I would maintain X amount in my account, and adjust accordingly to maintain that. It worked for only so long, because life made adjustments at the same time that would keep me at the level I was in my finances. If I got and increase, car maintenance or a new program or an unexpected increase in expenses would appear.
To be honest, the exact same thing would happen when I decided to surrender my financial mindset to function in a kingdom way (to be developed). Although setbacks come, I’ve been satisfied in not needing more, which means I spend less, which I can take hits when life shows up.
A changed mind under pressure will fall back on what it knows, because it thinks the change is not working. A developed mind will build itself little by little, and it won’t fall back far if trouble comes because in the development process, training is building a strong foundation for things to come.
Here’s the bottom line, to free yourself to become changed, you have to set yourself free to what you have been doing. The circumstances that test you will always try the actual mindset of where you are, if it really has been changed, or will it stay the same.
UnBlockYourself Episode 420
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
Struggling in the now is not as bad as it sounds. The fight is within me trying to control everything instead of trusting in the process. I think of it as me stepping onto an invisible bridge, going from where I am, to where I am supposed to be. In my mind I can see a lot of where I’m going, but the path to get there is on this invisible bridge. Like me, this frightens many people, because it requires a lot of faith to be guided.
3 things on this:
-
You cannot just sit and do nothing. Staying stuck on the bridge is no good for you or anyone. It is never a good feeling being stuck.
-
You have to believe that the doors that close on you sets you up for a better position on this bridge. Some of the doors we choose for ourselves can leave us stuck in a place for years. Sitting at an old door that closed because that was where we wanted to go.
-
You have to go through the doors that are opened for you. The doors of opportunity that God opens for you moves you across this bridge and the interesting thing about this is, the more you trust and move, the longer and greater this bridge becomes. Greater payoffs await behind each new door you step through, bringing you closer and closer to who you have been called to be!
"We realize we have built our lives around who we were, and we must make adjustments to be who we are, on the way to who we are becoming."
I read this in a daily devotional and it really spoke to me. Ichigo Ichie (about being present in the moment) has been something I firmly believe in, but I have a hard time staying there with God. Reading this I finally have an understanding why.
God is always in the now. In my past, it's His now. In my future, it's still His now. My present, He is there, in the now. But as for us, we only can be in the now, and who are today is built on all of our past experiences (In The Past). All I know is my past, my future is not clear, and I can only blindly walk by faith in the now. That's Hard.
I'm building my now off of what I've experienced in the past. But God is ever changing and evolving us for our future, so the struggle really just boils down to trusting the process. Because He functions in the now, we can't really rely on just our past to fulfill our future. We have to trust and depend on Him. I can't stress this enough, being present with Him in the now is where change comes. If we can keep focused on the now, our future is bright paved with the blessings of our lights shining in the darkness!
Have a great day!
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” - Isaiah 41:10
Have you ever noticed that God gives you a giant vision that is waaaaaaaay bigger than you can handle? Then in your spirit you can hear, “Don’t be scared…” For me, it helps in knowing that I’m not alone, and that I’m where I am supposed to be, but, it doesn’t help because the task in front of me is bigger than me. I feel like I’m being swallowed up by this great big monster of an undertaking and usually the bigger things win.
I think it is set up this way on purpose. It says “fear not”, meaning that it is going to naturally be scary. I think that the scripture is telling you that it’s okay, to go ahead and not be afraid to do what you’ve set out to do, scared. If you could do it in your own strength, well you wouldn’t need God at all right? I’ve spoken to small groups and in front of congregations, all in which when I think about it, when it was important, no matter the size, I’d be nervous as all get out. But the adrenaline gets going and I’m determined to have a good time, even though I’m afraid, God makes it okay. I’ve lived even when I’ve bombed, or forgotten lines, or watched deacons at church fall asleep right in front of me giving a sermon. The scripture is saying, “I called you, now go take the risk.”
Behind the risks, there are rewards! From lesson being learned to monetary compensation, with the right mindset, the more risks you take the greater rewards and closer you come to your success!
“The fastest way to success is to double your failure rate.” - Thomas Watson, Sr.
When I came home from active duty, I had a little time on my hands. One of the things I wanted to do was to learn about Atlanta. All the little hole-in-the-wall places. So, the first thing I would do in the morning jump in the car, and head toward downtown. A lot of the streets that I lived near would either end up downtown or intersect a street that would lead downtown. When I went from one end to the other, I would turn around and find my way back. Worst case scenario is that I would hit 285 and go back from there. (That was my protective ring around the city.)
Because I had the desire to get lost, and find my way, and I had the mindset that I would not go further than my boundaries, I had no fear of really getting into too much trouble. I learned a lot of unique shops and became really familiar with streets all over the city.
To learn the city I took a few risks, but the desire to learn outweighed the fear of being lost, ending up in the wrong neighborhood, and thinking I would run into trouble too great for me to deal with.
Success came quick when I was willing to take the risks, let go of my fears, and stay mindful of the boundaries I set for myself.
Learning from failures can be tough sometimes, but if you are learning the lessons, it will catapult you towards your success.
Everything works together for your good!
“The fastest way to success is to double your failure rate.” - Thomas Watson, Sr.
So how do we become a little clearer on the things we need to bring us out of the fog? We need to snap out of focusing on failing and shift it in to what it really is, a lesson being taught. When we start to shift that focus, we can start to come up with a better plan of attack.
Right now as it stands, my Japanese is no better than it was from last week. But since I understand the problems, it seems my lessons have suddenly taught me tings I really wanted to know, my understanding of things like grammar and kanji have just opened up to a new level, and the biggest part, God is showing me why I need to do things to get to where I’m going. That may be the biggest thing. A renewed sense of “why”.
This is the key. A more intense, clearer, “why” has given me an incredible boost in morale, focus, and determination to fail in a good way. I’m ready to make mistakes and learn from them. There isn’t much fear when you are wanting to fail!!!
As I mentioned before, because I was unclear in the things I wanted to say in Japanese, I couldn’t even begin to start to learn the necessary tools I would need to be successful at it. I called it being in the fog.
Being in the fog will almost undoubtedly put you directly on the path to failure. I was on it. The problem is this, when most of us find ourselves on this path, even though we know we’re on it, we stay on it. What keeps you on the path to un-success? To be simple, usually you. How? Like this:
We usually stay on the path by not taking responsibility. “It’s not my fault”, is usually the start of blame shifting. Because it’s out of your hands, you cannot take yourself off the path, the person at fault will have to do it.
Giving up is a sure-fire way to stay on that path to failure. In basketball, it has been said that you miss 100% of the shots you do not take. Also when you aim for “nothing” you will hit it every time.
Last thing that keeps us on that path is excuses. This usually stem from a place of being comfortable with where you are. Every reason you have not to move forward, is also the reason you have given yourself of why you want to be where you are. That is, if you are not trying to do something about it.
What can you change today to switch paths from unsuccessful to successful?
As I was talking with my Japanese teacher yesterday she said something that caught my attention. I was explaining that I wanted to get over the language barrier keeping me from having confidence in speaking. A harsh summary of her reply was this, it’s not that you’re hitting a barrier, (not the language) it’s you. Since you are unclear on what you want to say, you can’t even begin to approach what you want to say in an entirely different language.
Now, a light of hope is starting to shine in the cloudiness. I have information that tells me the root of the problem, so what do i do with it? I have to be clear in what I want, what I want to say, also in what I want to do. The clearer the path to victory, or accomplishing the goals i set, the easier it is for me to stay on the path leading to it. Otherwise, I will definitely end up on the path to fear, failure, and frustration.
What do you say about yourself?
How are you feeling towards yourself?
Sometimes what we see, know, and think about God and what He has for us does not line up with how we feel.
For me, I know that I’m fearfully and wonderfully made, and made in His likeness, but I feel stupid, old, and ugly inside and out. This is where faith and belief overcome current situations that temporarily feed us lies and circumstances that keep us down in a depressive hole.
Since everyone’s circumstances are different, write down some constant feelings you have, and the truth you need to hear.
Some of these statements you come up with may not be for a positive pep talk, they may require action to fulfill. Do the work. See the results.
If I feel fat, powerless, and overweight, what can I tell myself that I’m not? My image that I have of myself may not currently match the positive view, so that means I’m going to have to make changes to come out of that cycle that is keeping in the state that I’m in. Reminding myself daily can help keep on track to achieve the goals and image I have of myself.
Failing to Success:
You may be wondering what that means.
Failing, or plans that fail, are lessons. This is the entry point for your idea to become the success it has been destined to be. We’ll name it “START”.
When the lesson comes about, there is a fork in the road to success:
Pathway 1: Give up, crash and burn, or just ignore the lesson.
Result: Return to START and try again.
Pathway 2: Learn from lesson, Take action on learned lesson.
Result: Small or great victory accomplished, success achieved, or next lesson on the way to success will start.
Normally, either you go back and start again, or you go forward towards your goal until you have achieved it.
We're starting up a new session of talks!
Fighting Fear: Being motivated to action to counter our fears.
Fighting the fear of failure, because failure is the pathway to success.
Let's Go!
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” This was Michelangelo describing his process for carving marble. “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.”
This is vision, to be able to see what is, beyond the current state it is in. Some people see blank canvases, others may see art works already displayed in a museum, and the blank canvas is just waiting for someone come and paint it.
Using your vision allows you to see what would be if action is applied, not just currently what is as is. Since we are all different, have different likes, dislikes, experiences, and different points of view, our vision will cause many people to see the same thing in many different ways. (And its okay!)
kaizenmoai #UnBlockYourself #podcast
Like the empty container shown in the video, we are called to do great things. It may seem so huge that even with our very best we can only fill so much. When we trust and rely on God's strength rather than our own we see that we (You + God) are more than enough, because You + God is a Majority!
Exercise excellence, being consistent in doing your best. If you’re not careful, it is easy to get excellence and being perfect confused. It’s good to set high standards, but perfection will only frustrate you.
Think of it this way, you may do your best, but there always is a little something that can be added. I think of a professor giving a lecture on his jar being full. He filled it ping pong balls. No other ping pong balls could fit. He asked the class if it was full, and they said yes. Then he pulled out jelly beans. The beans dropped right in, filling the big gaps the balls left. He asked again if it was full, and of course they all agreed. So he pulled out a bag of sand and filled it even more…
Even when we have reached the place of perfection, something can be added. Excellence calls for you to do your best, and meet the standard you have set for yourself. Maintaining that standard will help you to shine as the best version of yourself for all to see!
Going into this new year I want us all to strive for excellence. Do not confuse this with perfection, because there will always be room for improvement.
To really make an impact with your ikigai is to really give what you doing your all. “Is this the best you can do?” is a little reminder for me of a story of someone submitting an article to Henry Kissinger. He sent it back with a note that said, “Is this the best you can do?”. The author of the article thought it was rude, and begrudgingly reworded the article and sent it again. Kissinger again sent it back to him, with the same note, “Is this the best you can do?” Really frustrated and upset, the author rewrote the entire article, and submitted it with the note, “I have redone the entire article, and this is the absolute best I can do.” Kissinger sent a note back saying, “Good, this time I’ll read it.”
People want the best from you. That is the standard of what they are judging you by. If you give a mediocre presentation of what you have to offer, many will assume that is the best you can do. It may not be perfect, but your best is everything that anyone could ask for.
So this year, let’s give it all we got.
Today we are creating a working Done / Doing List for the new year.
The "Done" part of the list are the things God has brought us through, accomplishments large and small. The "Doing" side of the list are the things we are setting out to do. As we do them, we move them to the "Done" side, and add more things to the "Doing" side, so it is a working list.
Let's do great things in 2022!
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
Proverbs 16:3 NIV
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Proverbs 16:9 NIV
kaizenmoai #UnBlockYourself #podcast
MOST OF THE THINGS WORTH DOING IN THE WORLD HAD BEEN DECLARED IMPOSSIBLE BEFORE THEY WERE DONE. - Louis Brandeis
What is it that you are working on that is worth doing? What is that thing that is so worthy of your time, sweat, and tears?
Is there something urging you to press on? To move forward? That thought or idea that will not let you go? It may be your greatness calling you out to fulfill your calling or purpose. It may be your ikigai pushing you to a fuller life than what you are currently experiencing.
kaizenmoai #unblockyourself #podcast
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.””
Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV
Today’s prompt comes with a quote:
“My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been” - Diane Arbus
Where can go today? I live in a small town so there aren’t many places I haven’t been, but new things open all the time, so today I’m going to a new place for lunch.
Along with that, there are new things I want to try, experience and learn, so do not be afraid to sit down and research. Set aside some time to move from just wanting to know about something to the reality of having done some research on the subject.
kaizenmoai #UnBlockYourself #podcast
“Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.”
Ecclesiastes 11:4 NIV
This was the prompt for today. I asked God for wisdom and understanding. In my mind we sat down in the garden, and a strong breeze blew through the trees. I the feeling was great, and the sight of the trees moving as if they were dancing was beautiful! I looked up and the clouds moving quickly across the sky was also amazing, I felt like a kid laying on a hill looking up and trying to figure out what each cloud was shaped like. What a wonderful feeling of nothingness.
I understood. I felt great, but I also did not want to do anything, be anything, nor be anywhere. Just sit there. This is what the comfort zone is. We often have to fight to stay in this place. God is constantly moving, and is moving us from place to place also. Do you know what happens if the shepherd does not move the sheep from pasture? Physically, not moving is bad for the body. It is also bad for the land. Moving gives the land time to heal it self so it can support them the next time they are there.
I still feel good from the rest, but bad I wanted to stay longer and not do anything.
So what is your action item for today?
kaizenmoai #UnBlockYourself #podcast
Yesterday we touched on the fear of losing, and there is nothing wrong with that. We get knocked down sometimes, or maybe even a lot. Every time you get back up, it is the start of a new win! As the quote said yesterday, “Every time you win, it diminishes fear a little bit”.
Muhammad Ali put it this way, “Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong!” Look at you today. You made it this far. You’ve had some setbacks, but you are here, with a purpose, and even if you get knocked down, push through to accomplish the vision set before you.
Can you think of an instance where life knocked you down, but you push through? (And you are still here!) Knowing you were able to make it through, how do you feel looking back on it? I hope you are proud of yourself!
kaizenmoai #UnBlockYourself
One of my coaches long ago said, “Action is the antidote to fear”. This has always stuck with me because I had to prove it as a false statement or a permanent practice.
The journal prompt today deals fear too. The quote is from Authur Ashe and it reads, “Every time you win, it diminishes fear a little bit. You never really cancel the fear of losing; you keep challenging it.”
What’s a fear you feel you need to go ahead and get over?
What can you do to challenge it today?
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
II Timothy 1:7 NKJV
kaizenmoai #UnBlockYourself
Challenge yourself:
Let’s grow! We can challenge ourselves to be and do better by taking small steps outside of our comfort zones!
Today’s challenge:
When two paths come before you, choose the harder one! What’s the hard thing you’re going to do today?
Hopefully you are starting to see in your day to day journey some activities that you take part in pointing to your true Ikigai. My cheat sheet has the pillars in pairs:
- Kaizen and Kodawari
- Accepting and Releasing Yourself
- Harmony and Sustainability
- Enjoying the little things
- And today: the Here and Now
The here and now is the main idea behind “Ichigo Ichige”, (once in a lifetime meeting), meaning that you need to present when things are happening because it will never happen the same exact way with the same exact consequences or benefits ever again. Just like every decision you make affects the rest of your life, every thing happening right now in the moment is all you have. Mother Teresa said, “Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has not yet come, all we have is today”. So take advantage of this moment in time.
Being present in the moment is most important thing you can do when it comes to being aware of your purpose. If God is speaking to you and giving instruction, if you are living in the past, you miss it. You are too busy reliving something already gone. Just as bad is trying to live in the future, neglecting the tasks and people who are right here and now in front of you, who you’ve been called to serve and touch. Being in the present with the mindset that every meeting and experience is a once in a lifetime thing will make every moment a purpose driven, fulfilled, and ordained moment catered just for you!
Quick Recap:
Kaizen and Kodawari - to start small with high standards in the details in the things we do.
Wabi Sabi for acceptance and releasing yourself to do great things.
Ikigai flow having harmony and sustainability as you go about doing these things.
Today is about the things you do bringing you joy. It also brings back the little things, the small details, those things that warm your heart and make you feel glad to be alive as they are happening as you do the things you do. This is how you know that you are close to your to flowing your Ikigai.
Even though I’m older now and I don’t have the patience I use to have, i can always feel the flow in Ikigai happening when I make someone laugh and they get the point in the lesson I’m trying to convey. To me that is one of the greatest feelings in the world to see the light bulb come on and you know that they got it! Especially when I’m talking or teaching about who God is and how special they are in this world.
Another for me is making music, no better feeling than adding layers of sound to other instruments and seeing people feel it right along with you. Watching people sing or dance or grab their instruments to play along is equal to seeing the light bulb to me. I just love it.
I think about this:
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 NIV
So far we use kaizen and kodawari to start small with high standards in the details in the things we do. Next is acceptance and releasing yourself. This is Wabi Sabi choosing to accept your imperfections and use them to define how wonderfully different you are. And now harmony and sustainability.
One of the great things you’ll notice when are flowing in your ikigai is that things you do come together with harmony and sustainability.
Harmony - an agreement or concord forming a pleasing and consistent whole.
Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. I think of it as being a perpetual state or system where needs are met without constant outside influences.
In relationships, I think of this scripture:
“It’s better to have a partner than go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, But if there’s no one to help, tough! Two in a bed warm each other. Alone, you shiver all night. By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 MSG
But overall my favorite scripture would be:
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
Romans 8:28 NKJV
Awakening your ikigai pillar 2
Starting small was the first pillar, and small steps to improvement is the essence of kaizen. Also in starting small we took care of the small things, the details. Kodawari is the high standard we have in what we love and do that takes care of the little things, because we love what we love.
Another pillar in our ikigai is releasing yourself. Releasing yourself to be you and accepting who you are. This is Wabi Sabi at its core. It’s finding perfection in the imperfections and knowing that you were fearfully and wonderfully made the way you are on purpose.
When I first started high school I spent a lot of time trying to fit in, trying to like what everyone else liked, and hang out doing what the crowd would do, good or bad. Not a very good time. I met a few kids who I noticed was always happy and nothing seemed to bother them. I wanted that. What I discovered was this: they didn’t care about anything but what they liked. And that was just to find the food and funny in everything. So I joined them and accepted that I liked to laugh and draw and be silly, instead of fighting, smoking, stealing, and running from police.
I released me from being like them, to accepting that I like the me that made me happy. The world became a weird and wonderful adventure from then on.
The essence of your personal ikigai working for you lies within five things happening within your ikigai framework.
- Starting Small
- Releasing Yourself
- Harmony and Sustainability
- The Joy of the Little Things
- Being in the Here and Now
Kodawari is the commitment to doing the things you are called to do to a high standard or level of quality. It is all in the details. The very small things that matter to you because you were called to do this, and no one can be you better than you because of it.
In Wabi Sabi we understand that we may not be perfect, but we have a sense of what perfect is when we have the five working together within our living our lives.
One of the many meanings of ikigai is the reason you get out of bed in the morning. Today, we are going to get a little head start on accomplishing things in our day by starting to get up earlier. One of the things about fall that I like about this country is the time change. We set our clocks back an hour and what we do with that extra hour is up to you! You can sleep in, (but your body’s rhythm will probably not allow you to do it) but I wanted to suggest this: keep your pattern. If you wake up at six, maybe take 30 minutes and wake up at 5:30 until spring. Why?
That 30 minutes gives you an extra 30 minutes to accomplish more of your day. That’s also an extra 2 and a half hours during the work week to get things done, or to think, or to exercise, or whatever! In a 4 week period, on just the weekdays for 30 minutes, you’ve gained an extra 10 hours to whatever you devoted that time to.
Your brain is at its finest when you first get up, your day has been cleared, your mind is fresh, you haven’t been bombarded with all of the negative emotions and energy from people who demands your attention, and you can think. If it was just 30 minutes. Can you see the potential that 30 minutes has for your trajectory?
There are many facets to discovering and understanding your own personal ikigai. We have to take time to examine our lives and notice the little things. More than likely, you function in your ikigai everyday, but since there’s is no emphasis on it, it doesn’t seem strong enough to fulfill your mission, purpose, and vision, for your life.
I think back to when I went to a certain class on relationships and the counselors there broke down the psychology of men and women, different personalities, and why people do the things they do. It was the greatest class I’ve really been through, and it may be why I’m still married after 26 years now. But i chose to listen and apply the strategies, logic, and reasoning. And the person next to me, probably didn’t make it. In fact, some didn’t even finish the class. It’s what speaks to you, and what you do with it.
Pay attention to what you are telling yourself about your everyday life. The little things matter.
- What are some little things do you do that brings joy throughout your day?
- What are some little things that seem to cause stress and anxiety?
- What are some little steps to accomplish or small things to make happen to make you feel better about the day?
Finding our ikigai in our lives will stem from the things that are important to us. Everyone is different, so no one’s ikigai will be exactly the same. Some will serve the community using their talent because that is all they will focus on. Some will try to change the world by using every ounce of everything they own, it all comes down to the balance of the four essential elements:
- What you love
- What you are good at
- What you feel your purpose is
- How you view the world and it’s needs
Value placement in each area will have you lean a certain way to a certain group of people. If you are focused-heavy on what you love and nothing else, you will do things just for you, and no one else outside of your interests will get to get close to you. Same as the other four. But when there is a balance in the four, the value you place reaches a wider demographic of people you want to serve.
So when trying to discover what your ikigai is, let’s start at the point of what are your most sentimental values?
And think of this too: In what areas do you think you add the most value?
Also as we are thinking inwardly, what are the small things that give you pleasure?
At the very base of our ikigai, it is all about discovering, defining, and appreciating those life's pleasures that have meaning for us. It is OK if no one else shares our values, because pursuing our own joys inwardly often leads to the outward rewards that the world benefits from.
Our ikigai trickles little by little or like a flood into our work and lifestyle when we “go with the flow”. The flow is that where space and time seem to no longer bind you as you are doing the very thing you were called to do at that very moment. You are no longer just you. You are the ultimate version of you. Ultimate Super Sayan you.
That “flow” manifests itself when what you love, what you do best, meets how you see the world, and make a difference in it. When these things start to align and balance you will definitely start to see your flow come naturally through your everyday life. The more they balance, the heavier the flow.
To get to this point, the elements of our ikigai have to be our source and our resource. The mission and purpose that God has given us has to be foundation and source for us to accomplish our vision. As we work on ourselves from the source, we will be provided the resources and opportunities to further develop our craft to make it better and get more proficient at whatever it is we have set out to do.
But at the start of it all is knowing our ikigai. And that is the focus of the next few talks. We will be looking into the book “Awakening Your Ikigai”.
A strong mindset can determine what you are able to accomplish, but the intensity of the struggle between the mind and body will dictate how fast you’ll get there, depending which one is in control.
If you are led by the body, you will see that the body:
- Will give up without much of a fight when things get hard.
- Will always look for the easy route and cut corners.
- Will look for immediate gratification despite the consequences.
The difference is mind is lead by the spirit, and the body is led by fleshy desires.
The mind:
- Has no physical form so it doesn’t want the the same things the body does.
- Makes decisions based on the spirit, faith, and logical things that makes sense to it.
- Uses faith to make the impossible come forth, and bring things from mental into the physical.
I have a sign next to my computer that says, “Faith does not make things easy, it makes them possible
I was driving my golf cart this weekend looking at the sights and noticed that the cart would go in the direction I was looking. So when I wasn’t looking at the road, i kept going off of it. I wanted to talk about that today.
“We walk by faith and not by sight” - 2 Corinthians 5:7
As I was sitting in my thinking chair this experience and scripture came up. Then my favorite radio ad of all time that lives rent free in my head played right after it. It says this:
“Erik Weihenmayer knew the risks. Less than 1200 people had ever conquered Mount Everest and more than 175 had died trying. But still he climbed not seeing the terrifying drops or the fear on other faces. And when he reached the summit he didn't even see the view because Erik Weihenmayer is blind. He proved it doesn't take sight to reach the top. It takes... Vision….Pass It On.” - This message is a courtesy of The Foundation for a Better Life at Pass It On.com.
Life is a lot like the golf cart. We steer it into the direction we’re looking. So we must be looking into the direction of our vision, which is ahead, and not on the sights around us, which can make us distracted and veer off course.
Another scripture says this “set your mind on things above…” let your vision guide you to where you are to go, and you will always be moving forward in that direction.
When dealing with others today, consider the emotional bank account. Even if we do not know the person, (which makes it easier because we are not starting with a negative balance) we can make the first step by making deposits right off the bat!
Here a few things to consider if things are starting to south in relationships or encounters with others.
-
Big problems usually are a sum of a bunch of little problems. Remember lingchi, the relationship may be on its 999th cut. One more can be the death of it. To dig deep and discover the many cuts you will have to have an hansei session, look at your emotional bank account, and apply the “five whys” to peel back layers of mistakes.
-
Both parties need to make deposits. Thinking ahead can often give you insight on what is to come. The closer you become in a relationship, the more you’ll know what can make them happy. But be careful, the more expectation grows on both sides to know what to do too. So it’s going to cost you a little more to make that deposit.
-
Acceptance. There has to be a level of acceptance to things that cannot be changed in a person for it to work. If there seems to be a little quirk about the person that is going to be a deal breaker, have the hard conversation and be upfront because we only delay the inevitable by pretending something is okay when it’s not. The small things you were able to look over before will not cut it now.
Making generous deposits are really smart investments into your own happiness and future in the relationships with others!
Last night I was encouraged to revisit my vision, to keep it before me so I can chase after it. It’s hard to chase after something that was once in front of you, but now in a notebook on a shelf fading away due to time…
It all started with at church where Pastor Eric Clark encouraged us with one of the main scriptures was coming from Habakkuk 2:3:
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
He also added two things:
- You are closer now than when you started
- Remember why you started
As I had a little mini hansei session, I reflected on this in my thinking chair, I am thankful for coming this far. But I had to look at the vision, and see what is on track, and what is extra I just added that looked good. I’ve added new tools to my arsenal to get me to where I want to go, so I wanted you to do the same for yours.
Applying this kaizen approach to our vision:
- Remember that our vision can suffer death from 1,000 cuts. It can slowly but surely be snuffed out if we unintentionally pay no attention to it.
- Hansei is the looking over the vision and trying to see how we can get there in a way we can handle. This is keeping it before us so we do not lose sight of it. Motivation and momentum is the force that keeps us moving forward and how fast we’ll get there.
- The Seven Mudas helps us to streamline the process by eliminating time wasters that delay and deter us from being the best we can be.
Our last of the Seven Mudas is eliminating wasted time and resources due to defects. From a business standpoint, this is when You have products that require rework because they are not functioning the way they were designed to. Every step in production after the finished product will have to be delayed because the product has to go back and be repaired or redone. It’s good to get the kinks out when starting, but when your system is up and running and you have to stop because things aren’t working out right, delays will cost you time and money.
In our personal lives defects are a little different. There are 3 areas I wanted to focus on for this one. Defects are the mistakes or flaws we have in our thinking, results of our actions, and attitude towards life in general.
Remember it all starts with a thought. In our thinking, we’ll often develop defects due to the information we are feeding on. This is why it is important to check sources of info, and also the motives behind those sources. Most people believe in and act on those things they believe in because they feel that the information they have on a particular subject is true and lines up with their belief system.
Now, if the thought process is flawed, next will be the actions. We will say and do things that will line up with the thoughts produced. Many times if we look at our actions or things we have said and believe them to be flawed or defective, we can trace it back to where we got the information from. What was the intention of the foundation of that belief? Just a thought.
Those thoughts and actions will make up the attitude towards life and others. This is where we circle back to our main focus in this life we are living: Wabikigai! Wabi-sabi, Ichigo ichie, ikigai.
Wabi Sabi: appreciating and finding perfection in imperfection.
Ichigo Ichie: Enjoying every moment and meeting as a once in a lifetime event
Ikigai: finding the reason for being, and allowing that to be the source for a long, fulfilled life.
With this, always check for defects or flaws, and make sure the lessons life is teaching you are being learned. Many of the defects we experience are the very things we are to correct to make us better versions of ourselves.
Today’s focus will be on eliminating wasteful inventory.
In business, this is where what you have produced, sits on the shelf. If it has a shelf life, it must be sold or it will be no good. Even if it doesn’t, it must be stored at a cost, and kept safe and protected. This all will be at a cost to your business when you cannot sell what you have over produced.
In your personal life, materialistically speaking, the wasteful inventory can be the things that we accumulate and do not need. But keeping in line of what we’ve been talking about over the last 2 episodes, inventory of information and the thoughts we have produced from that.
You see, God has given us this unique ability to almost make anything happen we have the idea for. Not only that, but if we don’t know something, we can pretty much find a tutorial video or look for the subject on our favorite search engine. Remember, everything that ever was came from a thought first.
Many of us will have an idea that must be introduced to this world and acted upon. But what happens is that these ideas will sit in someone’s mental inventory, collecting dust, or the shelf life expiries. Since the ideas must be introduced and acted upon, many will have the same idea or improve on it and the law of averages says that someone will get it, and run with it.
Let that someone be you! What is that idea that the world needs? What ideas do you have that speaks to your purpose, passion, mission, skills?
Do not let it become wasteful inventory!
Today we look at Excess Processing:
Where in business, this focuses on products that must be repaired to satisfy customers needs after the production of the product has been completed. In simpler terms, having to go back and get stuff right when it should have been right the first time. Somewhere in the production line something is amiss or not inspected, and cutting corners may cost you you more time and money in the long run.
Today in our personal lives I’d like to continue the thought we started last episode. Over producing thoughts to where is delays or hinders us from our ikigai, the things we were born to do.
What can lead to this over producing is excess processing. Excess processing comes from the over-abundance of information offered or available to us that enables us to think entirely too much on things we don’t need to entertain.
Don’t get me wrong, the more info we have the better chance we have making the right decisions. But this “information overload” is by design. Now, you find a ton of information to support whatever you decide you feel you want. Even if it is wrong. Look at masks, if you feel it is good, bad, or indifferent about wearing a mask, you will find data, statistics, groups, science, whatever you want to support you. The overload causes you to feel comfortable in your decisions, even when later on down the road you may change and regret the things that supported you.
Remember this, whoever controls the information influences or even controls the opinions and thoughts of the people taking it in. The thoughts will ultimately dictate their behaviors, so most definitely look to see where and who is behind all of the information you are receiving.
In business, this waste is due to Overproduction: When there are more parts in the production line than customers are purchasing. Since the balance is off, where there is more time being wasted in the production of goods that will not be sold, time, money, and resources are not being utilized in different areas where they could make a difference to the company.
In our personal lives, this balance is upset in the the things we produce the most, our thoughts. We spend most of our day thinking of things that really does not matter, about people who really don’t care for what we are tying to do, and waste time and resources in areas that could utilized in better places to our benefit.
Actually, we can overstimulate ourselves to inaction. Overthinking scenarios how this can go this way or that, where we actually miss our window of opportunity to act. We even sometimes sit and think of problems and then think even further into it by coming up with excuses of why it is someone else’s fault and why it will never work in our favor.
Let’s press pause for a second.
Take a walk through your thought garden.
Enjoy this Ichigo Ichie.
Clear your mind from the things that will lead to procrastination:
- Distractions
- Mentally Draining Thoughts
- Anxieties
- Negative Emotions
- Thoughts that de-value things
Enjoy the place you are right now.
You are great, so enjoy the presence of greatness.
Breathe.
Reset.
Ready? Go conquer and do the things you were called to do!
“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint…” Isaiah 40:31
“He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”” Psalm 46:10
The 2 verses come to mind whenever I think about waiting. There are 2 elements to most of the scriptures that mention waiting on God.
- Waiting or being still.
- God is moving for you and with you.
It is knowing and waiting in faith that God is working in the background.
This is totally different is totally different from wasteful waiting in the seven mudas and kaizen.
In business, wasteful waiting is the inaction period between one step to the next in your production process.
In our personal life, wasteful waiting is simply procrastination, and something within the five areas at work causing a delay or shut down.
- Distractions
- Tired mentally
- Anxiety
- Negative emotion as attached to the task
- Lack of motivation or Not seeing the value of a task.
Today we want to put this into practice:
“I will not wait without God, and when I purpose myself to do something, I will focus on getting it done.”
Nothing can stop you, God will make a way!
Review:
From a business standpoint these are the “Seven Mudas” for eliminating waste:
- Moving: Excessive movement of people or machines. It is more common to talk about people movement, as this leads to wasted effort and time.
- Transportation: Moving a product or material and the costs generated by this process.
- Waiting: A person or process inaction on the manufacturing line.
- Overproduction: When there are more parts in production than customers are purchasing. This type of waste spells big trouble for an organization.
- Excess processing: Products that must be repaired to satisfy customers needs.
- Inventory: A valuable product or material that is waiting for processing or to be sold.
- Defects: Scrap or products that require rework.
I wanted to cover the same mudas, but apply these to our personal lives!
Last episode was on wasteful motion: how we need to put systems, policies, and procedures in place so we do not have to repeat mistakes over and over again.
Today: Wasteful Transportation
When I think of transportation I immediately think of carrying something. So today’s topic is really about carrying the wrong things that we shouldn’t be. The Bible says, “Cast your cares…” and another is “Take my yoke, for my burden is light…”, but how many of us go through things and decide, “I’m placing this problem in your hands God” or “I’m leaving this at the foot of the cross” and after we pray, go right where we left it, pick it up, and carry it around complaining, that if only i had the strength, or help, or support…
It’s there! Actually what is happening, we are going back to wasteful motions. When we say we are “giving it to God” we really need a plan in place or an accountability partner to safeguard us from circling back and picking it right back up.
Are there things you want to stop carrying? I know its a lot easier said than done, but this is why you have a group to help you. This is why you come up with a plan to keep you from the places you don’t want to go back too.
Back in March, I talked about being successful in Kaizen Teian, one must always be looking to eliminate the eight forms of waste:
- Moving: Excessive movement of people or machines. It is more common to talk about people movement, as this leads to wasted effort and time.
- Transportation: Moving a product or material and the costs generated by this process.
- Waiting: A person or process inaction on the manufacturing line.
- Overproduction: When there are more parts in production than customers are purchasing. This type of waste spells big trouble for an organization.
- Excess processing: Products that must be repaired to satisfy customers needs.
- Inventory: A valuable product or material that is waiting for processing or to be sold.
- Defects: Scrap or products that require rework.
- Non-utilized talent: When the management team fails to ensure that all the potential and experience of its people are being used. This is the worst of the eight wastes.
These are also nicknamed the “mudas”, which translates to uselessness or wastefulness.
What I would like for you to think about this week is what these mudas look like in your life. Taiichi Ohno, developed his “Seven Mudas” while creating the Toyota Production System. Let’s look at them and see if it can apply to areas in our personal life too:
Wasteful Motion:
Do you have everything you need? Or do you run around spending precious time gathering stuff you already should have with you because of procrastination.
Do you spend a lot of time putting out fires? Managing things we feel that others should know, but they seem to mess things up. It may or not be their fault, but do you have systems, policies, and protocols in place for people to manage themselves? (The way you would like things to go with or without you being there?)
“Productivity is not about how to get more things done; it's about how to get the right things done. It doesn't mean just doing less for the sake of less. (It's] about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at [your] highest point of contribution.” - Anthony Raymond
Key 1 - Have making improvements towards your life and projects the foundation of your everyday tasks.
Key 2 - Act on the small ideas for lasting change. Let nothing be too small and adjust accordingly. (Think of a plane’s flight from L.A. to Atlanta)
Key 3 - Know that when you do act, you are making a difference.
Key 4 - Streamline what you are doing. Use a Hansei time to reflect and see how you can make your time more efficient.
Key 5 - Focus on your focus. This means to pay attention to your project and stop being so distracted. Sometimes you may have to say no to things that do not fit in with what you are trying to do.
The main focus of kaizen is to accomplish small tasks that lead up to big results. Many fail to see how this works, or think it will take too long to see the results. So let’s change the focus shall we? Let’s change the definition a little.
Kaizen is the successful result from consistent and compounded daily output towards the goal.
Let’s look at a 30 period. If I gave you a choice, would you take either $20 bill now, or let me pay you today like this: $.01 day one, .02 on day two, .03 on day three… for thirty days? Thinking it would take forever the lower intelligence says give me the money now! But in the long run, the amount given is actually $21.45. May not seem to be a very big difference, but if you took it over a twelve month period the $20 a month is $240. The penny a day method is $667.95. From a Penny day one, to $3.65 on the last day of the year. If you did this with a dollar: $66,795.00.
The point is, the little things add up. Do not make the small efforts meaningless in any way. Remember lingchi? Chipping away at something will destroy it completely. Death by a thousand cuts.
Having a system that can show progress visually is like having a reward system to satisfy both upper and lower intelligences. The Upper is satisfied by seeing long term marks toward accomplishing the habit to be formed, or to the goal itself.
The Lower is satisfied by accomplishing an immediate task and having the reward of marking it off. This may get old to the lower, so it may become uninterested after a while. What you may need to do is incrementally put a different or bigger reward to have it work towards.
For Example:
After a week of marking off the calendar, the lower may not feel that this is a reward any longer. If you add in that there is a weekly reward along with the daily, then it may be more enthusiastic about getting things done.
Some apps offer badges for accomplishments to show on social media, some people may take a picture, get ice cream, do a giveaway, whatever entices the lower to do better and stay on track.
The thing is, this is a part of the planning process to your success. It is hard to do things successfully making stuff up as you go. It very hard to hit a target you cannot see.
Kaizen is the improvement through making small changes. To form habits, we have to repeat things over and over until it becomes automatic. This is why so many apps have streaks and notifications, to form habits. Fed habits have long lasting consequences, good or bad. Since the actions we are taking become automatic, they are hard to break because we do things without thinking about it.
A few years ago Jerry Seinfeld gave some advice to take a calendar, and have one goal to do something of your choice, and daily mark off the day when the task was done. After a few days, there would be a satisfying chain forming. He said, “whatever you do, don’t break the chain, never break the chain!”
Ultimately what he was getting at was this: doing things habitually leads to a certain arrival, and mastery of something comes through consistency… If you want to do this, don’t break the chain, if you want to do that, don’t break the chain!
A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step… We all have to start somewhere. First things first, we have to have our mind set to “I am going here.” If you are like me, when we set out on a long quest we tell Siri, or google, or the GPS system where we want to go, and trust it will plot the best course to get there.
We need to do this in life too, we find we want to go here and trust God will guide us there. Constant communication can keep us on track. Please don’t turn on the GPS, get a start, and then switch it off. That makes it easy to get lost.
Second, every step forward IS a step forward. Do what you can handle, and challenge yourself, but know that no matter how small your step is, it must be a step forward. Do not compare yourself to everyone else because there is only one you, and you are going to make it.
Kaizen is about small changes for the better, so don’t focus so much on big moves and spectacular results. I heard one person say, “it took me 17 years to become an overnight success…”
With the mindset of “I will do this”, and knowing its perfectly fine to take small steps, we will be well on our way to the life that fulfills us.
Review:
Lingchi - death by a thousand cuts: to slowly be overwhelmed by things we let into our lives through open doors.
To combat that, we use hansei:
Han - Look upon and turn over
Sei - Look back and review the past
Hansei - Self Reflection:
- Be aware of short-comings and flaws
- Know what tempts you
- Take responsibility for safe guarding against falling
- Avoid blaming everyone else
- Learn from past mistakes
Then we looked our ikigai (our reason for being) and it’s 4 areas:
- What you love
- What you’re good at
- What you can be paid for
- What the world needs
When this is unbalanced, we slow down, become unproductive, unsatisfied, and procrastinate often. This leads to:
- Distractions
- Tired mentally
- Anxiety
- Negative emotion as attached to the task
- Lack of motivation or Not seeing the value of a task.
A common reason we get like this is because what think our ikigai is does not satisfy our upper and lower intelligences, and when they do not work together we find ourselves off course.
They seem to be in conflict most of the time because:
- Your Upper intelligence is logical and methodical, and sees the long term benefits of things.
- Your Lower Intelligence does not think at all, it pleases itself and survives. It will go along with anything that will bring it immediate pleasure or reward.
- Since one is long term, and the other is short, they do not work together unless you have a way to satisfy both.
Which brings us to today:
Kaizen (/ky,zen/):
Continuous, incremental improvement is called kaizen. It originated in Japan and the word translates to mean change (kai) for the good (zen).
When set out to do a task, set a goal, or plan out something, we often make it way too big, which overloads our reality, or overwhelms the lower intelligence to where it is paralyzed with fear. Fear of not immediate gratification so it fights off this long term thinking.
Kaizen breaks down goals and steps into bite size pieces to where you are working towards the long term, but so small that the lower intelligence is satisfied and sees the rewards through small accomplishments it can celebrate in.
They seem to be in conflict most of the time because:
- Your Upper intelligence is logical and methodical, and sees the long term benefits of things.
- Your Lower Intelligence does not think at all, it pleases itself and survives. It will go along with anything that will bring it immediate pleasure or reward.
- Since one is long term, and the other is short, they do not work together unless you have a way to satisfy both.
When the two are working together in you will seem unstoppable!
If ever watch children, they don’t use their upper intelligence so much because it hasn’t developed through experiences to make long term decisions. Since the upper isn’t making long term decisions the lower has more power to do what it thinks is right, which is to satisfy its needs, curiosity, and desires. This is why you’ll see kids eating off the floor, walking off from parents in crowds, just doing stuff…
Think about how a 5 year old and a 15 year old does with Halloween candy. They both get a huge haul, but:
- One will eat as much as they can right a away, one will try to be systematic in the distribution to make it last as long as it can.
- One will give some away and trade with friends, the other will try to sell what they could do without so they can have money to more, or something else.
Bringing it back to your life, the four areas of ikigai are:
- What we love to do
- What we are good at doing
- What we can be paid for doing
- What the world needs from what we are doing.
Can you see how the upper and lower can be addressed when the 4 areas are balanced?
Your ikigai is a way of life, giving the reason for you now, and into the future so that both levels can agree that things you set out to do will be to the benefit of all.
Procrastination - to voluntarily delay an intended course of action, despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.
Why do we delay?
- Distractions
- Tired mentally
- Anxiety
- Negative emotion as attached to the task
- Lack of motivation or Not seeing the value of a task.
Not having an ikigai will not necessarily cause the delays or procrastination, but when you think about your four areas, it can help energize you to get things done.
Visualization:
Upper and lower intelligence working together in you will help you accomplish most any task.
BUT.
They seem to be in conflict most of the time:
- Your Upper intelligence is logical and methodical, and sees the long term benefits of things.
- Your Lower Intelligence does not think at all, it pleases itself and survives. It will go along with anything that will bring it immediate pleasure or reward.
- Since one is long term, and the other is short, they do not work together unless you have a way to satisfy both.
- Your ikigai is a way of life, giving the reason for you now, and into the future so that both levels can agree that things you set out to do will be to the benefit of all.
Having an ikigai that is balanced in the main 4 areas is essential to a full life. It takes work. It takes patience. It takes you being honest with yourself.
The 4 areas of ikigai are:
- What you love
- What you’re good at
- What you can be paid for
- What the world needs
When one of these areas are off, we start to feel unfulfilled and despise elements missing as if our time is being wasted. You may see people totally capable of doing a job, getting too dollar for it, and the next thing you know, they have quit. They didn’t love it. They move on to try to fill the gap. You’ll find people searching for their true place in life when the 4 areas are not being met. It even starts to become hard to do some of the tasks that we know we should be doing. Value in the things we are trying to accomplish diminishes.
Procrastination - to voluntarily delay an intended course of action, despite expecting to be worse off for the delay.
Even though we delay, we know what we should be doing, and this too, We know that what we should be doing is better in most cases or even needed, is usually better than what we are currently doing in its place.
Believe it or not, we all have an ikigai, a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It hits us at different levels, for some it is something we look forward to, and helps us get through the day. But for others, when they understand the purpose of having ikigai, it is a motivating force that drives you to accomplish whatever goals you have set out to do, because it is the essence of your being. You HAVE TO do what you do, it is your reason for being.
In Okinawa, when they surveyed the centarians if they knew what their ikigai was, they immediately told them what it was. Some said, “fishing to feed my family”, another said, “carrying forth my martial art”. It has a little more to it than something they just want to do.
Ikigai has its reaches into our life’s purpose in 4 areas:
- What we love to do
- What we are good at doing
- What we can be paid for doing
- What the world needs from what we are doing.
In simpler terms, it fulfills our passion, profession, mission, and vocation. When we are doing things that we are good at and love to doing, plus we get paid for it while making a difference in someone’s life, that is life to the fullest!
There is no limit to ikigai, your reason can be more than one, but most likely they will be able to function together as one.
This weekend, think about what you love doing and how it ranks in the four areas. If you take all your skills and rank them 1-10 in the four areas, you may discover that you most enjoy something you just do every now and then, maybe you should do that more often! It could be your reason for being!
Han - To turn over and examine
Sei - To look back upon in review of the past
Hansei - Self-reflection
Remember the two sides to hansei?
1: Review what’s not working or what could be better.
2: make the commitment to improve on your findings.
Today, I wanted to go over some things to look out for if you will take doing a hansei seriously…
-
Find where you fit into the equation: No one likes having problems, especially if they are the cause of their own. First thing in our survival mode of our ego is to find blame. If you want to make things better, find out how you are involved in the breakdown of things. It may not be your fault, but you may have created an environment that increased the chances of failure.
-
Understand the purpose of hansei. It is a way to better yourself. It is NOT meant for you to find things to hate yourself over and look for pity. You are to identify things to improve, not focus and dwell in defeat.
- Be ready to accept your mistakes. You did it, yes, but you are here to fix it, NOT to relive the past. We are using this as a lesson and motivator to move forward.
- Remain open and committed to the solutions you come up with. Be ready to put in work to be successful
- Try not to make the same mistakes again. You’ve learned. You see signs. You have your statements. You Got This.
Here are some steps to add Hansel in your tea time.
Step 1. Already know what you want to reflect on. Instead of being random, like, “what was good today?”, come to your tea time with the focus of what you want to think about.
Step 2. Review. Think on things like:
- What was my intent in doing this?
- What actions did I take to get the result I wanted?
- What was the expected outcome?
- What was the actual outcome?
- What was the difference?
Step 3. Come up with focus sentence that addresses the review you had. Write down the sentence and keep it nearby to help guide you or keep you on track in what you want to accomplish.
Step 4. Keep a journal of your journey. You don’t have to go into deep details of everything, just a quick entry of what your hansei was about, and what your focus sentence was. You may notice repeating patterns or habits you have that needs prayer and to be broken.
Step 5. Make a commitment to the solutions you come up with.
Only focusing on strength is a sign of weakness, because pride comes before a fall. When you know your weaknesses and you are able to tackle them head on, you become unbelievably stronger than ever before!
Earlier we talked about Lingchi - Death by a thousand cuts, which is a slow death overcoming you from all of the uncontrollable desires we are opening the doors for, which becomes the flood of the seven deadly sins to come overtake us. Today, we are closing the doors and keeping them closed, by knowing when those doors start to creep open.
Han - Look upon and turn over
Sei - Look back and review the past
Hansei - Self Reflection:
- Be aware of short-comings and flaws
- Know what tempts you
- Take responsibility for safe guarding against falling
- Avoid blaming everyone else
- Learn from past mistakes
History often repeats itself. Mainly because the lesson life was teaching was not learned. Reflections on past mistakes will ultimately see you through if things start down the same road as before. You cannot be trapped in the past, reliving the mistakes, you must visit to see what and what not to do for future references.
There are two parts to Hansei:
First, there needs to be reflection on things gone wrong. How did the door open? What started the desire and what fed it until it was uncontrollable?
Second, there has to be an action plan to stop it from happening again.
How can I fix this? Who can help me if it starts again? Where can I go for help?
Set aside some time to seriously start to reflect and search for opening doors. Remember Kaizen, take it a little bit at a time for long lasting improvements.
The straight forward frustrations of everyday life usually will not bring us down, we are resilient! We overcome so many day to day challenges, it’s not even funny. But the slowly creeping attacks on our happiness that happens on all fronts, this is where we start to get that sinking, I’m losing everything, feeling. Missing a bill you forgot to pay will hurt a little. But getting the late fee, then your stocks tank, and now having to put the car in the shop, AC breaking down at the house, subscription renewal fees, and having to pay a traffic ticket may have you feeling like it’s impossible to get ahead.
This is a metaphorical Lingchi, “Death by a thousand cuts”. When we look at being overwhelmed with frustrations, when we are in the middle of it, it will seem as though the world is totally against you. It may well be. But here is something I would like for you to consider, have we set ourselves up for this? Have we left open doors for adversity to come in and wreck what we are trying to accomplish?
The doors we leave open are usually in these areas:
- Lust, which uncontrollable desire
- Gluttony, over indulgence or over consumption of something
- Greed, the never-satisfied pursuit of material things
- Sloth, laziness and apathy towards things
- Wrath, uncontrolled anger, where you only think of revenge and rage
- Envy, jealousy and resentment over things others have or are doing
- Pride, arrogance and misplaced self-confidence coming from the admiration of self
We all have a little bit of each of these going on in our minds most of the time, but when it becomes uncontrollable and we act on these desires, this is when we start our fall down into situations we don’t want to be in. These are doors opening us up to experience “death by a thousand cuts”.
So I just realized that all of us are working on our goals everyday, and the effectiveness of the goals we set for ourselves depends on how big we scale them. This is what I mean, some of our goals may be to get breakfast, and not think beyond that. Others may be working on their 10 year plan everyday and day to day tasks do not really mean much to them.
Because we are all different, with differing opinions, thoughts, and personalities, every person sets their own pace towards the things they want to accomplish thief life.
I’m learning there has to be balance. Ikigai (your reasons for living) to set standards, and kaizen (continuous small improvements) to be able to accomplish them. We often lack in motivation to live a full life because we either set things too low and crush them quickly and are bored and not fulfilled, or way too high where it seems like the goal is never reached, or obtainable and we steadily lose interest in trying to accomplish it.
Two things go on in our minds as we are living life. What we want to do, and what we enjoy doing. Unfortunately, these functions happen in two different sections of our consciousness. When they agree, we do great things! When they don’t agree, we procrastinate, get bored, or do things begrudgingly. We are going to get our minds on one accord and do big things!
The next few episodes will be on getting balance through lingchi, hansai, ikigai, and kaizen.
In reading this morning, I came across this concept introduced in certain communities in Japan in the late 90s.
Fureai - translates to “close mutuality”, and it is like the bond between mentor and mentee, nurses and their patients, or like teachers and their students. A friendship, but more a respect/serving type of bond.
Kippu simply means ticket.
So they introduced a social currency that could be traded or exchanged from earning tickets through community services. To me, that could boost community involvement, seems to be a good idea, but I know that that is in a different culture.
So I wanted to you to think about your relationships today. We may not have social currencies, but we do have emotional bank accounts that we deposit and withdraw from every time we get together with anyone. Make sure you are making more deposits than withdrawals. If you make more withdrawals than you have in the account, then your relationship will become overdrawn and things will start to get rocky every time you speak. People become cold and bitter and argue and fight often, because no more deposits are being made. Then soon bankruptcy. No more relations at all.
Let’s focus on making deposits today in all of our relationships, spiritual, mental, and physical.
Look over your blessings because it is really easy to overlook them and forget how far you’ve come. Because we are always looking forward (greedily or being hopeful) it gets hard to sit down and reflect on what got you into the present situation. Not only that, but taking time to appreciate what you have, and what you have done.
Wabi Sabi sees the perfection in imperfections, but it also appreciates the beauty of what you’ve already acquired, and repurposes it if need be to keep it fresh and new, even when it has become old and worn out.
So should be with the wonderful things God has done for us, we keep them, appreciate them, and see the beauty and usefulness in them to live a full life.
Recall and reconsider some great victories you’ve made and reflect on them to see if you can still use the lessons learned from those experiences.
Is there something you wish to do, but don’t know about how to do it? More than likely, someone has left the knowledge of how they’ve done it for you. In book form or as a YouTube video, someone somewhere made it just for you. The funny thing about wisdom, and understanding is that they call to you, but they rarely just come, you have to go get them.
In proverbs, wisdom is telling the people:
“Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power.
I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.
I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.”
Proverbs 8:14, 17-18, 20-21 NIV
Let’s get what we need today!
To wish some one good luck before they set off to do something is a good way to show your support, encourage them, and extend a feeling you have for them to reach their success.
Ganbare / Ganbatte / Ganbarimasu
Sometimes you may hear me say, “Ganbatte yo!”, which is kind of like good luck but has a deeper meaning. It’s used the same way: to show support, encourage, and extend the feeling you have for them to reach their success, but it translates to “Do your best!”, or “Give it your all!”.
You can wish someone good luck, but in this sense, you are encouraging them to give it everything they have and that it will all work out. To me, when you do all that you can, success is inevitable, even if you hit your target or not.
I’d like to take this a step further, also place what you are setting out to do in the hands of the Lord. You can give it your all, but He can add that extra “umph” to get it to where it needs to go. This morning I read Psalms 37, and this jumped out at me:
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.”
Psalms 37:5-6 NIV
Ganbatte!
Most of my life I believed that we were called for a specific purpose. God placed us here to accomplish that one thing, and it takes most of our lives trying to figure out what that one thing is. But I no longer think like that.
Who we are is made of many likes and dislikes, skills, gifts, and talents, and utilizing it for just one purpose would be hard to do. Your ikigai (your reason for being) is not limited to one thing in life and then locked into it till death, it is multi-faceted taking on many shapes and forms in your life because you are forever growing and coming in closer contact with the one who created you to live your best life.
To limit your purpose to one thing that you aren’t sure that it is the one thing will cause you to turn down or turn away from other things that could greatly impact or improve your life.
A Japanese Proverb:
“If you try, you may succeed.
If you don’t try, you will not succeed.
This is true of all things.
Not succeeding is the result of not trying.”
This is important because we look to fulfill a specific purpose in life, while all along we pass up living our one life full of purpose, which is our many things we have working for us to help us accomplish many purposes, not just one. Go do great things!
“We must let go of the good to grab hold of the better. To live a better life, it's better to have less of what doesn't matter and more of what does.” - from the Bible app’s “the better reading plan”
As I was sitting in my thinking chair, having better conversations to enhance Ichigo Ichies came up. In early childhood education there is a strategy to talk to kids called T.A.L.K., to have deeper meaningful conversations. (It works with anyone)
T - Tune In - Be present in the conversation. Talk about what you notice around you, what you are thinking as you talk, and what you are hearing for your understanding.
A - Ask Questions - To better understand, ask questions. To further conversations, ask open-ended questions based on what you are talking about.
L - Lift Language - Go deeper into conversations by expounding on what is being said. Apply the conversation to experiences you’ve had, and lessons that you have learned.
K - Keep it Going - Get the most out of the experience as you can!
Use TALK for this to be an Ichigo Ichie. INVOLVE yourself in the conversation by making connections and do not be afraid to tell how it is making you EVOLVE into a better person!
Most people sit on their power, making them have potential power to do great things, but they are powerful nonetheless. The reason you are so powerful is so that you can create, build, and work towards your vision, making it become reality.
This is one of the main reasons behind your ikigai. You are living to make that purpose given to you from the spiritual realm come true in this physical realm.
The fuel for this power is your faith. We all have been given a measure of faith, but it is potential power, meaning it’s pretty powerless if you do not believe in what you are here for.
Power without faith is like a dynamite.
It could be very dangerous if ignited but if not used, or just left to sit, that’s all it does.
Also, on the flip side if you have vision, but no faith, that’s like have that brand new Tesla, but never charge it. It won’t be working at all before too long.
The way you stay charged and stay powered up is, yep, you guessed it, stay connected to the source.
Today is a great day to do great things! Keep being great!
I hope you’ve been able to write things down! As I sat in my thinking chair this morning, “First things first!” Kept ringing in my head. Ok. So I did my devotional and the past few days it has been dropping little nuggets about hearing and seeing God in everything. The key to it is pretty simple, stay in His presence. So let’s do first things first:
“Pre-Soak” - set aside some time before you get your day started to listen. If you aren’t in a place to sit and listen, you have to figure out how you get there. I have my thinking chair and tea set, where I get with God and if I’m not hearing Him, there may be some blockage and I have to seek Him (sometimes it’s not right away and I have to do some searching).
Look and listen - what is your goals for today? What ideas have you been given? What are you inspired to do?
Write what you hear and see - This is where yesterday’s “Write it all down” comes in. The more intently you listen and try to get a vision for what you hear, the more God inspired ideas will come to you for a great productive day.
Ikigai is commonly known for the reason for being, but it stems from issues you are dealing with in your heart. Your mind, will, and emotions. The more in tuned you are with your spirit within you, more satisfying your life will be.
On Sundays @ seven, I do my Sunday Soak. This is like being in my thinking chair, but waaaaaay more relaxing. I get the water as hot as I can take, and stay in until I get out, no matter how long that takes.
Anyway, this is my time to really get serious and seek God while I reflect on the wins and improvement opportunities (not losses) from the last week and plan to make this coming week even better.
So here’s how yesterday’s soak went:
I asked God, “how can I take things up a notch? I’m doing what I can, what can I do to make things better?” Almost instantly, this was the reply, “You do good, you try to listen, BUT, you are not as effective because you do not write down the majority of what is given. You do what you remember, which is not a lot.” Ouch. I have so many notebooks and planners that I start, but never finish. I have so many ideas that have evaporated it’s not even funny. The key is that I don’t write it all down, OR, I write it and then lose it, because it’s not organized.
So the goal for this week is to write things down, and have a place for it all to go until implemented. Just think about it, writing something down is you pulling thoughts from the spiritual realm, and transferring it into physical form, and then on to implementation. It’s quite fascinating, another thing is God’s word is strong and one reason it has lasted centuries like other great books, it has been written down and passed on for generations and generations.
Today’s focus is on eating, but I didn’t want to talk about what you are eating, but who you are eating with.
Sitting down together over food or even just a simple drink is the perfect set up for an ichigo ichie. Sitting across from someone gives you the chance to hear their heart, see body language, register the atmosphere into your mind, and roll all of it into a perfect image im your memory.
Be sure to eliminate as many distractions as you can. One guy on a podcast I was listening to talked about how his group would go out, and when they would get to the table, the game began. They would put all of their phones in the center of the table, and the first person to touch their phone during that time together, had to pay for everyone’s meal. If no one lost, they all paid for their own. I think they understood that the importance of the time they had together, and that it is just for a moment that won’t last long. Make good use of it. The one statement shared during that time you were paying attention could be the one that changes everything in your entire world.
I know my kids won’t understand the title, but every day for me I need a getaway.
Stressful things are all around us, but I wanted to tell you my definition of stress, and why it does so much damage to the inside of us, mentally and physically.
Stress is where our mind, will, and emotions are in conflict with the things going on around us. It can be a very subtle irritation, or a physical fight with someone close to us. It mainly comes from something we want to do or something want to happen, but it hasn’t come out that way.
So, to deal with it, we need stress relievers! In this group I’m naming them “Calgon Activities”. These will be some of the events in the “events” section of the Facebook group.
These are just suggestions, and if you have any feel free to leave a comment, or share an event link in the group!
Summo tea community market- August 21
Gryphon tea room
Savannah tea house or yaupon - August 28
Hilton head or tybee beach
Statesboro farmer’s market (monthly)
Drum circle (monthly)
Japanfest - September 18-19
Live Jazz at Myrtle and rose rooftop garden: https://fb.me/e/11NW4SyYc
Richmond Hill International Food Festival Sept 12 @ 12pm
Remember you have a mind garden you can stroll through if can’t getaway but want to.
Here is how we made them and the meanings:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unblockyourself/id1444793590?i=1000513943866
Jim Rohn said that “You’re the average of the five people you spend most of the time with. It’s also been said “show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”. It’s quite interesting how we seem to just gravitate and attract to people who we want to be around. But we have to keep the desire to be like someone else in check. This circle of friends is also your biggest circle of influence on your life, and because it is highly influential it can steer you in the direction of where they are going. So choose wisely.
You may not like something but end up doing things your friends do because they wear you down. You may purchase something you don’t care about just to satisfy the circle, or end up doing something you may regret, so choose wisely.
On the flip side, being selective of who you have in your circle can be to your advantage. You can be friendly with everyone, but who you let in close to you, the people you allow to speak into your life, you can choose to build this circle like a team. A team to have your back and to help you when you need it. You can build a circle of encouragement.
One last thing, it has to be mutual. You have to present yourself as an asset to be chosen, just as you are choosing them. For a community to work well, everyone pitches in and makes available their gifts and talents to be utilized by the group. If you sit around and expect to be fed by everyone around you, what happens to you when they don’t feel like it anymore and stop?
When thinking of functioning in their purpose many will say, “but I have no idea what my purpose is”. That’s common. Until we get it though, one simple trick is to add value to what you do.
Try.
Try being the best.
Try making someone else happy.
Intentionally trying to add value will start to steer you towards your ikigai, your “reason for being”. Tsing a moment to intentionally impact someone’s day through your actions in a positive way can keep you on the pathway to serving your purpose.
A healthy, wealthy, full life is seldom that way on accident. It’s been set up that way intentionally.
Kaizen trait: Family
Since today we focus on family, I wanted to challenge you to impart wisdom to your children and grands. Leave a legacy with your words.
Today was the first day of school for my daughter, so this is what I thought of for her: Direct Your Day!
How we approach our day, month, year is pretty much up to us. Although everything may not go according to plan, how we react or how we respond will usually determine in what direction the next step will take us.
Mastering self control puts you in the position to be able to direct situations. It is very difficult to think next steps when your emotions are going nuts and your adrenaline is pumping. In those moments, you are just reacting, and you can’t think or plan nor envision the consequences.
Sales people will say, “you like this? Well what’s stopping you? It only makes sense…” Emotions and pressure can cause you to make irrational decisions because of reacting and not responding, and now you are stuck with the results of the action.
If we are able to control our emotions and think a little, we can better position ourselves to control what’s happening around us.
The Why
Kaizen means gradual improvement and moai means meeting for a common purpose.
I have a vision that a group of friends get together regularly and every life in this group becomes better each day.
The “meeting for a common purpose” is to pursue our ikigai, our life’s purpose, utilizing it in conjunction with others, and have fun doing it!
The How
Here’s how we do it. There are 5 main areas that we focus on that come from what most of the people living over 100 had in common.
- Family
- Purpose
- Belonging
- De-stressing
- Eating
The terms Wabi Sabi, ichigo ichie, and ikigai will be infused in each area.
The What
Here’s the fun part.
Monday through Friday I plan on posting and inviting if available: tips, tricks, activities, events, videos, all having to do with the five areas. Get involved and invite friends, or just listen and learn. The point is to live life and enjoy it, and do that a little more each day.
The kaizen community calendar will be updated regularly and is open to suggestions.
This morning as I was walking, my devotional’s title was, “Attitude Matters”, and after that, today’s episode from Earl Nightingale, “Attitude towards a better tomorrow”, do you think God was trying to tell me something?
I thought of an old Instagram post I made from 2017 that said, “Your attitude will often determine your altitude”. Yesterday I gave an example of 2 people selling the same product to the same demographic. The difference would be motivation, which ultimately leads to their attitude:
- Towards life
- Towards the job (which is an opportunity)
- Towards peers (people you work with)
- Towards customers (anyone who you serve, family, friends, customers…)
The most important thing I understood this morning was this little nugget:
Opportunities come from problems, or, Every problem is an opportunity in disguise! I’ve always heard through every mentor that opportunity is always there, you have to see it. I’ve always heard it and thought it to be true, but could never quite grasp the vision they were seeing. But today, I see it. I hope this helps you too.
Problems never stop coming up. We are surrounded everyday by problems small and large, simple and complex.
Our ATTITUDE allows us to see all of these problems as opportunities!
Remember, everything that makes money is a solution to a problem.
So get this. Problems are all around us. All day everyday. Our attitude allows us to see them as opportunities, which in turn gives us the ability to find the solutions. People seek solutions, in fact, they pay for solutions.
Think of it, if you pay for something, it is solving a problem. Food for your case of the munchies. A subscription to watch your favorite movies or tv shows to entertain your boredom. Gas to run your car, anything you pay for, solves a problem. That problem was someone’s opportunity to help you, and help them too. But to get to that step, they had to be able to see it first, not just complain.
How much faith do you have in yourself?
Yesterday we talked about being born for this moment. The ideas you may be sitting on and keeping to yourself are really answers to someone’s prayers and they are looking and waiting for them.
Most people will not act because of being frozen in fear. So what happens? Someone else will come up with the idea and move on it, even if they were afraid too. “A plan without action is just a wish…”
Your Mission and Message: Why, How, and What.
In communicating your mission and message, you will need to establish your “why”, “how”, and “what”. The “golden circle” concept is explained in Simon Sinek’s book, “Start With Why”. It builds on the foundation of what you believe, and not off of what you do. This creates “buy in”, even for yourself. John Maxwell also expresses, “people don’t buy into what you do, but why you do it.”
So, what is it that you want to do? Why??? What is the message behind what you are doing? The thought behind the questions just asked is this:
I believe this, but are the things I am saying and doing with this idea represent it what I am believing for?
There are 3 words who make up who I am. You’ll usually see it attached to my name: Motivate, Educate, Establish. Mostly Everything I have done, that I am doing, and will do, embodies this, which is my core belief of why I know that I am breathing. I pretty much have to motivate people to live their best life, educate them to the best of my ability, and establish ways and means to successfully accomplish the end goal, of living their best life. This started in 2017, and carries on into today with starting the Kaizen Moai, with the core belief in the name, “Meeting with the common purpose of making gradual improvements”
Were you born for such a time as this?
I was thinking in my thinking chair and Esther popped in my mind. What came to mind was, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 NIV
Earl nightingale said this morning on my morning walk, “now is not the time to just be, you must also do.”
Someone is looking for a sign to do something, well, here it is. You came across this for a reason. I guess for “such a time as this”.
The world awaits your inspired idea. We all want to connect to you and your purpose because it will be the solution to a problem or better yet, an answer to a prayer.
Yes it may fail. But what if you believed enough to ensure it wouldn’t? What if you touched one life. Is that not enough? If that one person could fully grasp the vision you have, isn’t that the definition of success? Especially if they are able to carry it and spread it like wildfire.
The world is waiting!
When we are able to control our emotions, we are in a better position to steer conversation in our favor. The “just do what I tell you” may work in the short term, but it does damage to the relationship, and also damage to the credibility or regards of how the other party will continue with you.
As I was walking this morning, I was listening to the audio book Wabi Sabi by Beth Kempton. In a chapter about calm communication, she talked about a situation where many sides had differing opinions, language and cultural misunderstandings, and high tension. But she said, “A gentle way won the day”. This is Wabi Sabi in others we are dealing with. We ALL want to be heard and understood, but aggressive and forceful can shut a person down and push what you are saying out, even if you are speaking truth from the mouth of God Himself.
React / Response
This is so good. Write this down!
You can communicate WHAT you feel without reenacting HOW you feel. - Beth Kempton, Wabi Sabi
You can let someone know that you have a lot going on at the moment without snapping, and making it known through yelling and threatening people with violence or quitting something you have worked hard at maintaining. Most people get it. They can read the air in the room. BUT. Remember, that everyone wants to be heard and understood. Depending on their level, many times it doesn’t matter how others may feel at the moment, they have to get it off their chest.
Emotional Control is this: “We have a choice: we can choose to react in a way that escalates the negative energy and aggression, or we can choose to respond calmly in a way that brings a more considered discussion or even closure of the conversation.” - Beth Kempton, Wabi Sabi
Understand what I’m saying, I’m not saying forget your beliefs and agree with anything and everything people come at you with. No. I’m saying an effort to understand the other person can help you seize the moment, and turn it into an Ichigo Ichie that may change the course of your relationship forever.
A gentle way can win the day.
“Soft words can turn away wrath” - Proverbs 15:1
“The world’s longest lived people chose–or were born into–social circles that supported healthy behaviors, Okinawans created ”moais”–groups of five friends that committed to each other for life. Research from the Framingham Studies shows that smoking, obesity, happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. So the social networks of long-lived people have favorably shaped their health behaviors.” - Bluezones.com
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
There are three Japanese terms from tea ceremonies that I would like to foster in this environment. Also, being aware of this as we start to come together will get us in the habit of having a safe place to be open and enjoy a full life without judgement.
-
Wabi Sabi - “Perfectly Imperfect” Each person is working towards a perfect version of themselves because of the imperfections they have accepted about them. Simply put, you are you, and I love you for that!
-
Ichigo Ichie - “Once in a lifetime encounter” We are trying to get together and be intentional in enjoying the moment. Every moment we meet is a once in a lifetime encounter that will never be the exact same again. To capture that, we try to be in the habit of the concept with everyone we meet.
-
Ikigai - “The reason for being” Life is a giant exciting puzzle given to us to make use of every experience. Every person we encounter adds to that puzzle. God puts people in our path that needs what you live for. This also applies to the other person too, You need what they are living for also. It all works together. It also applies to groups. The groups you choose to associate with needs to represent you, offering what you live for, but also at the same time providing the things you need to keep going.
This was the idea I had when I first read about it, and forming a Moai came up over and over as it was something I must do, no matter what.
I look forward to living life with you!
“The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms. Instead, they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about it. They grow gardens and don’t have mechanical conveniences for house and yard work.” - Bluezones.com
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
Today’s habit I want us all to work towards is being intentional in our moving. The “Kaizen: incremental improvement” thought to moving a little more in a natural setting would be parking a little further than you normally would. Or if you are in a plaza shopping, park at one end, walk to the opposite end, and work your way back to where you parked.
Intentionally go to places where everything you need is clumped together, and it would make the most sense just to walk. I like outdoor malls that will have everything from restaurants, clothes, bookstores, games… etc.
Another thought on moving more intentionally would be to pick up a hobby or activities that require movement. In the blue zones, everyone has their own garden. Successful gardening requires a lot effort, like planning, planting, watering, weeding, constant checking, and harvesting.
One more, is to really be intentional in exercising. The new trend out now is wearable technology, and health wise, you can keep up with pretty much anything you want to track, from blood glucose, calories burned, how much time you spend exercising, to counting your steps for you. A lot of them will even reward you with badges as you reach your goals.
Striving for a strong healthy body in this day where technology makes everything easier for you, can be achieved if you are intentional about it!
“80% Rule
“Hara hachi bu” – the Okinawan, 2500-year old Confucian mantra said before meals reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80 percent full. The 20% gap between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or gaining it. People in the blue zones eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early evening and then they don’t eat any more the rest of the day.
Plant Slant
Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets. Meat—mostly pork—is eaten on average only five times per month. Serving sizes are 3-4 oz., about the size of a deck of cards.
Wine @ 5
People in all blue zones (except Adventists) drink alcohol moderately and regularly. Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers. The trick is to drink 1-2 glasses per day (preferably Sardinian Cannonau wine), with friends and/or with food. And no, you can’t save up all week and have 14 drinks on Saturday.” - Bluezones.com
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
Today’s habit will be covering a “kaizen” approach to eating, in which the people studied (who lived over 100 years young) mostly shared.
I have pulled them into one habit under “mindful meals”.
First off, they would drink wine, and I know that many in my area would not like that so much. I’ll start off with the intention, the intention of a glass of wine once a day is not to get hammered and forget the troubles of the day, but to have preventative affects on the body and mind:
10 Health Benefits of Red Wine
- Rich in antioxidants.
- Lowers bad cholesterol.
- Keeps heart healthy.
- Regulates blood sugar.
- Reduces the risk of cancer.
- Helps treat common cold.
- Keeps memory sharp.
- Keeps you slim.
- Reduces risk of depression
- Has positive effects on the digestive system
- whitehalllane.com/10-health-benefits-of-drinking-red-wine-that-will-keep-you-healthy/
Also from medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265635#benefits,
Red wine also helps with:
- cardiovascular disease
- atherosclerosis
- hypertension
- certain types of cancer
- type 2 diabetes
- neurological disorders
- metabolic syndrome
Next would be the habit of an increase in plants in meals, and a decrease in so much proteins from animals. I listened to a talk from Dr. Sebi where he talked about the damage we cause our bodies due to eating “dead food”, where we cook out all nutrients and are left with “not food”, and raw and living food, where as if you did not eat it, it would grow. (Fruits and Veggies)
And the last part would be “Hara Hachi bu”, eating until about 80% full. An easy way to do this when you eat out is to order your meal, when it comes cut it in half, box that and save it for later. It’s harder to eat till you hurt that way.
“Successful centenarians in the blue zones put their families first. This means keeping aging parents and grandparents nearby or in the home (It lowers disease and mortality rates of children in the home too.). They commit to a life partner (which can add up to 3 years of life expectancy) and invest in their children with time and love (They’ll be more likely to care for you when the time comes).” - Bluezones.com
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
One way we can improve our lives is to pay attention and prioritize our family. Although we may be doing everything in our power to protect and build a future for them, our focus being beyond them may very well neglect the present day needs they have for you right under your nose.
When I would teach kids the ten commandments, instead of “thou shalt not commit adultery”, I shifted the focus and said, ”Always keep the family together”. It’s hard work, but keeping the family first is the best way to ensure your legacy. The story of you will not impact anyone more than the people who are in it.
Have a tea time with your family. Enjoy an Ichigo Ichie (a once in a lifetime encounter) by being intentional in creating a memorable moment to go in the family history.
Your family is under your direct circle of influence. The things you say and do greatly build them up, or tear their world apart. Be careful with your words. Imagine that this is your legacy you are dealing with.
I started playing genshin impact, and a little story in a side quest happened. A hunter was chasing a boar and they ended up being frozen in ice for 300 years. The ice thawed. The hunter went back to the village and yes, everything had changed, but his great, great, great, great, great grandson remembered his name in the family tree!
What about you? What can of impact can you have now that could touch your lineage generations from now? Or even the community you live in, or the world for that matter! It can start today with the habit of keeping your family first!
“The Okinawans call it “Ikigai” and the Nicoyans call it “plan de vida;” for both it translates to “why I wake up in the morning.” Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy” - Bluezones.com
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
The “sweet spot” in living your life is found in the middle of:
- You focusing on what you love
- You doing the things you are good at
- You get compensated for what you do
- You fulfill needs
Your ikigai is found in the middle of all four, in short, your “reason for being”. Another common way of describing your ikigai is, “why you gladly get up in the morning and face the day”.
This Moai is intentional in helping you grow continuously (kaizen) toward living a full life of fulfilling your purpose, your ikigai. In business leadership models, you learn to set goals, and then action plans to achieve the goals. This is great, I set up smart goals and miracle one sheets all the time. But when I accomplish that, something bigger and better has to come next. Your ikigai, however, is a way of life. There is no end. You keep fulfilling your passion until you cannot anymore. Sorry to all the absolute, black and white, cut and dry people, “it just don’t stop!”.
Listen, there will always be people in your circle who will try to take advantage of your gifts, talents, personality, and everything that makes you so wonderful. (Can you really blame them?) Do not get discouraged in this. If you go along with them (because you want to) know that you are filling a need. That person may get the help they want, but until they start to fulfill needs and do the things they were called to do they will certainly STAY EMPTY. You will always look and feel more successful, because success is you doing the things you were fearfully and wonderfully made to do.
“All but five of the 263 centenarians we interviewed belonged to some faith-based community. Denomination doesn’t seem to matter. Research shows that attending faith-based services four times per month will add 4-14 years of life expectancy.” - Bluezones.com
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
Church groups, charities, civil organizations, even gym memberships all give a sense of purpose and place for the members to belong.
The habit that we focus on today will be on belonging. It seems that most of all animal kind, to aquatic all the way to humans, group themselves together. They keep each other alive:
- Share common goals
- Hold each other accountable
- Everyone has purpose
- Protection
- Reproduce
Belonging to a group of friends addresses the areas of unblocking yourself:
- Mental - Having someone to talk to and live life and keep your mind healthy
- Physical - Having a people to help you be accountable to yourself, eat better, and stay physically healthy
- Spiritual - Share in your walk with God and help with your vision for your life
- Financial - Help with ideas to sustain yourself and have a future for generations
- Social - Having friends to enjoy life with helps you to survive the toughest of times
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" and kaizen is the approach to continuous, incremental improvement.
Blue Zones’ 3rd principle of the “power 9” is Down Shifting.
“Even people in the Blue Zones experience stress. Stress leads to chronic inflammation, associated with every major age-related disease. What the world’s longest-lived people have that we don’t are routines to shed that stress. Okinawans take a few moments each day to remember their ancestors, Adventists pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinians do happy hour.”
So, one of the habits that this Moai will focus on is the Kaizen approach for improving our Ikigai (our reason for living) through finding ways that help us de-stress from our busy day.
On a daily basis:
- As An Individual: Stress relief can come many ways, one suggestion would be to have a set tea time with yourself. You can have an audience of one, reflecting and learning about yourself and the events of the day.
Weekly / Monthly:
- As A Group: I’d like as a group to find activities for us all to do monthly that will be relaxing and fun, not adrenaline inducing, heart pounding competition, but something that would promote a stress reliever.
- Sip & Paint
- Nature Walk
- Aquarium
- Picnic
- Tea Service
- Winery
- Art Gallery
- Cooking Class
Moai (/mo,eye/):
- A group of lifelong friends
- A social support group that forms in order to provide varying support from social, financial, health, or spiritual interests
Moai means "meeting for a common purpose" in Japanese and originated from the social support groups in Okinawa, Japan.
Kaizen (/ky,zen/):
One approach to continuous, incremental improvement is called kaizen. It originated in Japan and the word translates to mean change (kai) for the good ( zen).
Blue Zones has a study of common things that the longest living people share. They call it the “Power 9”.
- Move Naturally
- Purpose
- Down Shift
- 80% Rule
- Plant Slant
- Wine at 5
- Belong
- Loved Ones First
- Right Tribe
The people in your life have habits.
Habits are contagious.
Can you imagine how much better off you’d be if the people in your circle (your Moai) had a Kaizen (continuous small improvements) approach to their Ikigai (reason for getting up in the morning, and facing the day)?
Smell is linked to the learning parts of the brain.
We roughly remember about 3% of what we see, 5% of what we hear, and 35% of what we smell, varying on what kind of learner you happen to be.
I think this difference is so great because we like to attach emotions to taste and smell. Thinking about it, when I smell chlorine, I think of swim class, trying to see underwater, being scared to do a correct dive off the diving board, lining up, and who could make the biggest cannon ball to get everyone on the side wet.
Another one is the smell of a landfill. I know it is strong and gross, but my grandfather lived near one, and we had sooooo many adventures in the actual junkyard, in the nearby woods, and that smell would let me know as a kid that we were there. So smelling that stench reminds me of how fearless my cousin and I were, just to keep from being bored.
Tasting in the physical is a great vehicle for experiencing new cultures and trying new things through food.
Taste mentally boils down to your personality, what you like and don’t like, your character and your integrity.
But overall, taste and smell evoke Ichigo Ichie by incorporating all the senses into that moment in time. Ichigo Ichie was achieved when you can look back and taste and smell the tea for instance, you’ll be about see the surrounding, and hear the conversation during that time, and know the warmth of how you felt from the tea, but also the sense that your mind and heart were touched too.
Look for an opportunity this weekend to experience an Ichigo Ichie to log in to the history of you!
Did you know physical touch can reduce stress and blood pressure? Your skin receptors send messages to the brain that regulates and suppresses hormones that cause those negative effects on the body.
But today I want to get into a different type of touch. Touching through words. Although words are invisible, they are very strong, dangerous, creative, and even deadly if used the wrong way.
Loving words can bring comfort.
Fighting words can cause violence.
Intellectual words can bring wisdom.
Encouraging words can build bravery.
Ignoring words can make things go wrong.
You see, physical touch leaves a short lived impression. It can become a memory paired with emotion, but most are forgotten within seconds.
Words touching a person leaves a longer lasting impression, if abused, they even leaves scars.
Words have a ripple effect that can last generations, even centuries. Look at the words annotated in different religions.
Words can build and destroy:
3 out of 4 people sell themselves short. That’s astounding compared to all the potential power, influence, and impact a person has in them! But think, probably 3 out of 4 young people grow up surrounded by a negative views of the world. Coming up I remember always hearing how the system against us, people are stupid, and how everyone is looking out for themselves, so it’s every man for himself. Kill or be killed. When you become older, how do present yourself in the adult world? The same exact way. And the cycle continues.
Find words that you can encourage yourself with and others.
Watch how life changes when we feed our minds positive words to think on.
Remember the six magic words: We become what we think about.
Sight is the most highly developed sense that humans have. But we tend to spend more time watching life on screens, than experiencing it first hand. - Ichigo Ichie
Looking and seeing is as different as hearing and listening.
Looking is elevated to sight when you add intention, and awareness.
This is where the filters attitude, vision, courage, and persistence come in.
When we apply the filters to the things we are looking at, we feed our minds images to process into things we probably will be thinking about.
And the six magic words are…
We become what we think about.
The biggest component to sight is awareness. This is takes focus. Most things we happen to see are looked at, but overlooked. True gems “hidden in plain sight”.
Awareness is in sight is essential. It gives value to a subject, and sense it is valued, it is handled more carefully than things we hardly care for. This is why two people can see the same thing and one think it is the greatest thing in the world, or a solution to a problem, and the other sees it as useless. I think of a usb cord. One comes with everything, we’ve had hundreds over the past few years, but a charger cord is like gold in my house, we never have one when we need it. In some other households, people say, “I have way too many of these”, and throw them away.
Sight is intentionally being aware of things, in other words, paying attention.
An encounter using sight enhances and gives value to what is being seen in the Ichigo Ichie moment.
The first thing that popped up on google said this: Listening is the ability to accurately receive and interpret messages in the communication process. Listening is key to all effective communication. Without the ability to listen effectively, messages are easily misunderstood. ... Effective listening is a skill that underpins all positive human relationships. - Skillsyouneed.com
“The way to improve your listening skills is to practice "active listening." This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, the complete message being communicated.
In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully.” - Mindtools.com
Applying the filters:
Filters are reflective devices that reflect the thoughts and feelings on the subject being communicated to you. What being said, and what we hear through these filters can be very different. I’ll tell my coach things I’ve heard and she would always say, “I said that? That’s good!”
Hearing things with a good attitude, according to our purpose in life, courage to try to understand the unknown, and the fight to understand the “complete” message, will bring about a deeper connection to the messenger and the message.
I’ve talked about this before in podcast episode 258, but today I want you to understand that we listen with our subconscious too. This is where things get real. Literally. The things that we hear and process, will start to shape our reality. We become what we think about.
The mind does not turn off, and what we allow into the mind through the 5 senses are the very things we feed it. Intentionally or unintentionally.
From wikipedia, “ichi-go ichi-e (Japanese: 一期一会, pronounced [it͡ɕi.ɡo it͡ɕi.e], lit. "one time, one meeting") is a Japanese four-character idiom (yojijukugo) that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. The term has been translated as "for this time only", and "once in a lifetime". The term reminds people to cherish any gathering that they may take part in, citing the fact that any moment in life cannot be repeated; even when the same group of people get together in the same place again, a particular gathering will never be replicated, and thus each moment is always a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Trying to translate it, you will get that ichigo” means “one life or time” and “ichie” means “a one-time encounter or meeting.”
A few episodes back I talked about re-educating ourselves through the five senses. I would like to apply that this week through the concept of Ichigo Ichie, and the filters of success.
Listening. Seeing. Touching. Tasting. Smelling.
The five senses can cause you to recall good and/or bad memories, life experiences that probably taught us a thing or two, and shaped the way we see things according to those experiences. But, as we gain new experiences, to make them really personal and effective in our lives, there are a few filters that we need to apply.
Attitude = This filter is how we approach things directly influences how well we will get something out of the experience.
Vision = This filter will compare what’s being experienced to what your purpose is. It will try to make it useable to your overall vision for your life.
Courage = This filter is the strength from within to face new experiences, and to learn from them. It is difficult to face the unknown sometimes, due to the lack of security of what we know.
Persistence = This filter is simply the determination to make what is being experienced something of meaning. It’s a driving quest to make the experience an Ichigo Ichie.
"No one is really self made, but the really successful apply themselves to be self taught... In an age of this much free information, your ignorance is a choice.” Rachel Hollis
Information is "Potential Power".
If applied, information can turn into knowledge.
Applied knowledge leads to: (4 P’s and a F)
Poise - state of being balanced
Position - in a place open to opportunities
Power - influence
Peace - peace of mind
Freedom - options to choose what you want
Annie besant
Knowledge is essential to conquest, only according to our ignorance are we helpless.
Thought creates character, and Character can dominate conditions, and the will creates circumstances and environment.
DO NOT TAKE THIS NEGATIVELY!
If you are failing and knowledge, there is a wealth of treasure in information on the subject that you need. If you lack knowledge in an area, either you are conceited, ignorant, or both.
Conceited because you deny the work and research on the subject that has been written down for you, Ignorant because you didn’t know that it was there, current (but that can be fixed, right?), Or both because you choose to be ignorant.
A man kept getting passed over for a higher position because he didn’t have a college degree. He complained to his friend, “I’d give anything to be able to go back in time and go to college”, his friend said, “well, why don’t you go?” The man went on to say, “I’m 35, I have a wife and kids, it would take me 10 years to go to college at night and graduate.”
The friend asked, “well, how old would you be 10 years from if you went?”, the man said, “45!”
And then the friend asked, “how old would you be in ten years if you didn’t go at all?”, “well, 45 I guess…”
Time moves forward if you want to be knowledgeable in your strengths or not.
Why choose not to have power?
Creative - relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.
My take will be a little different, but first let me tell you about today. Today was silent. No direct insight from God. It was a return to the understanding behind ichigo ichie. 2 things kept coming up over and over during my walk. Listen, and be creative. Listen, and be creative…
So I did. This time, I listened to what I was thinking. I thought about creativity, and my definition is that creativity comes when your intentions and willingness to listen starts to solve a problem. Your approach to anything really. With your intentions and imagination you create solutions from the simplest to the most complex situations in your life, and at that moment, you are a creative being. Making full use of the mind given to you.
Remember that you become what you think about, so be creative and create who, what, where, when, and why, whatever you want to be!
Character is what is on the inside, displayed or coming out for the people to see.
Back up what you say with action
What we say to someone may be good, what we say and do for someone makes it even better.
Our testimony is the same way, our confession of faith is good, but our walk with God proves His existence.
John Maxwell says, “we teach what we know, but we reproduce what we have.” So many people try to give away something that is not in them and they burn out quickly.
Earnest Hemingway said, “Write your best, and finish what you start.”
I want us to apply this to what we do, so:
Do the best you can, and finish what you start
Living and doing our best comes from what we are working towards.
What are you working towards?
Successful people are successful not because of an accomplishment, but because they were or are working towards something meaningful to them.
This means success can only be defined by the individual person. If I want my podcast to hit 50,000 downloads this year, and I’m working towards that, it may not mean anything to someone who is not interested in me nor personal growth. They couldn’t care less. But that cannot define me.
Understand this too, that success is a process. It comes from doing our best working toward something, it is celebrated if accomplished, but it is happening and in the works when we are in the middle of going for it.
I feel successful when I’m working towards the goal, so producing a video almost daily to add to the podcast increases the chances of reaching more people with my thoughts. So the working toward making the videos and talking is the small “Kaizen” accomplishments that I can look back and say that, “I’ve made enough videos, or podcast episodes to watch daily for an entire year!”, instead of that one video to go viral.
Living your best life now is your ikigai, and every moment you reflect on you will see that the entire time has been a success.
Be proud of that!
Freedom comes from options
Options are opportunities to choose from
God sets us up with plenty of options and opportunities, and every decision we make either opens or closes the door to more options.
Freedom is not free, it usually insecurity and the unknown. People are usually sacrificed at some degree to gain it many, and is usually not appreciated until lost.
Be aware that freedom is commonly traded for security, and people will give it away because of fear or misguided desires.
If you saved for a car, when the right time came, you would go to your favorite dealership and have the option to buy any car that fits your budget. This does this, and this one has this, and ultimately the choice is yours. BUT. Once you have made that decision, you are locked into this car for the next 5 years, the money is allocated for the payments, and you no longer have the freedom to choose, it’s already been done.
Spiritually God gives freedom, and through desires and security in other things, we end up giving away freedom to satisfy them. Our decisions will also affect how great the up and coming options will be, so choose wisely
When we think of education, we usually think of going to school. School is important, you learn a lot of things in school. But education, from the Latin has a combination of words that mean to: impact or mold into, bring up, and lead out. The settled meaning is usually to bring up from within.
So understanding this I wanted us to educate ourselves this weekend. Be taught as in the way of the tea ceremony, connecting meaning of your environment through the five senses.
Don’t just watch and learn from others through sight and sound, impact your consciousness through experiencing the smell of crisp clean air, touching the textures of different woods, tasting a new blend of tea by fixing your favorites. There is so much more to your education at any age than just sight and sound, watching and listening. But on that note, do both! But not with eyes and ears, but with your heart!
Today’s focus is on the customer:
Customer must be satisfied
Our rewards are in exact proportion to our service.
How you treat the customer will be in direct proportion to how great your reward will be.
Who is the customer?
What is the reward you are seeking?
Can this person provide this reward?
When we depend upon others as the customer, we expect full VIP treatment from them. Isn’t it a wonderful when the customer doesn’t have to demand service? How great would your reward be if you served the customer with VIP service when they come to you? Give your best. You reap what you sow.
Understand that rewards come in tangible and intangible ways. Many times both!
Make every encounter an ichigo ichie, make each moment count.
You never know what people are going through, so make it a point for you to be the high point of their day!
Good fortune is where our preparedness meets opportunities. Preparedness is the sum of our activities, actions, and positive intentions.
Reaping and sowing is law to be put to practice. Try it out!
Repurpose Yourself
Repurpose means to to give a new purpose or use to.
Let’s repurpose ourselves to a new life, new level, and deeper walk.
Every purpose we have will have impact on the world. Even if it is just a ripple effect, every person you touch, has an affect on in someone, which will have an affect on someone else, and then someone else… Just from being with you.
In dealing with people to serve your purpose, there are 2 audiences: the Customer, and the Volunteer.
Customers are who you serve. Volunteers are customers that help you serve others.
Must satisfy both to be successful and they propel you forward in your purpose.
Both audiences want 3 things: recognition, stimulus, security. When you supply this to the audience you will find them pushing forward.
Your journey starts wherever you are and the road is uncharted, so you need help!
Remember to serve your purpose and walk in power!
Re-evaluate yourself:
Take time to look at where you’ve come from.
Count your blessings.
Look at where you are.
Be thankful, but do not stay there.
Look at where you are going.
Know that you have the power to steer in the direction you want to go.
Revisit the success you accomplished.
Repeat the elements that made you successful.
Release those things that held you back.
Regain
Life is a constant up and down. Feel good and then depressed. Got that stimmy, then waiting on next pay day. Feeling great, and then sick then next day.
We all positively push and go up by leaps and bounds, and then negatively fall off or spiral down faster than all get out.
But there is a way to stay up. The concept is easy to understand, but the execution is hard.
It’s this: on the way up, we fight for what we want. We focus on the goal. We become what we think about. Keep that.
We fall because once we have arrived, or reached that goal, we are in danger. We stop fighting. We don’t have to focus, we stop thinking. So with trying to reach nothing, focused on nothing, and thinking about nothing, we become and end up with nothing.
When we start to slip re-shift and refocus.
Regain yourself!
Realize
- become fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly."he realized his mistake at once"
- cause (something desired or anticipated) to happen."his worst fears have been realized" / fulfill
- give actual or physical form to."the stage designs have been beautifully realized"
- make (money or a profit) from a transaction.
Realize that you are special. Stop comparing yourself to other people. A lot of trees look the same, but you can tell a tree by its fruit. Realize who you are and who’s you are.
Realize you are powerful. The words you possess in you can build someone up, or they can really cause great destruction.
The last 3 definitions for realize deals with manifestation:
Cause, make, give actual or physical form to.
One of your purposes or missions in life is to realize the vision God has given you. Have you ever thought about a seed? Everything needed to last while the tree is alive is packed in there. Once it matures, it will be able to give thousands of seeds of its kind, but all stemming from that one little seed.
Our visions are God’s seeds of what he wants us to do in the earth. We just have to “realize” it.
Realize
- become fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly."he realized his mistake at once"
- cause (something desired or anticipated) to happen."his worst fears have been realized" / fulfill
- give actual or physical form to."the stage designs have been beautifully realized"
- make (money or a profit) from a transaction.
Realize that you are special. Stop comparing yourself to other people. A lot of trees look the same, but you can tell a tree by its fruit. Realize who you are and who’s you are.
Realize you are powerful. The words you possess in you can build someone up, or they can really cause great destruction.
Reaffirm
Affirm - State as fact; validate, assert strongly and publicly, declare to be true.
Affirmations highly influence our thoughts and behaviors, to the point of becoming self-fulfilling prophecies.
A self-fulfilling prophecy is the sociopsychological phenomenon of someone "predicting" or expecting something, and this "prediction" or expectation coming true simply because the person believes it will and the person's resulting behaviors align to fulfill the belief.
Remember that everything you need is in this room. God was using me to speak to my cousin yesterday, I had to claim that the message was for me too! He said this to him:
“Believe that whatever you need is available to you, it’s on the other side of an idea. We are just one good idea from being millionaire. I pray for your million dollar ideas to come to you. Just stay prayed up!”
Refill - the act of filling a container again
What is filling? Causing something to be full.
What is full? Containing or holding as much or as many as possible; having no empty space
I walk, talk, pray, constantly getting enough to get through the day. But there needs to be a refilling, getting in a place where you can hold as much as possible, and then letting it overflow. That’s where we are able to put up a good fight, when we work out of the overflow.
Find that refilling station and keep it close by.
So far the process has been like this:
- Reiterate: communicating your vision and positive self talk.
- Removing the hindrances in the way
- Now with the clean slate, reinvesting your time and attention to prepare for the future.
Today, Reinventing yourself is the act of remodeling; renovation; restoration… you.
Set aside some time to look at yourself, and see if there are any improvements you can make.
Remember Wabi-Sabi, no one is perfect, in fact, we find God’s perfection in the little quarks of imperfections. Find improvements, not change imperfections.
Investment definition:
- to allocate resources in order to earn a financial return
- to make use of for future benefits or advantages
- to involve or engage especially emotionally
We all have been given 24 hours today, from 12am to 11:59:59pm. What we do with it is pretty much entirely up to the individual. Today’s readjustment I’d like for you to consider this:
- allocate resources you have to secure a better future.
- Make use of what you currently have, your experiences, and who you are to create leverage for yourself. (Sustainable thinking)
- Involve yourself by intentionally doing what it takes to create the future you want to have.
It starts with belief in yourself, and this confidence is built by seeing the value you have, by seeing yourself through God’s eyes.
Remove
Definition:
verb
- take (something) away or off from the position occupied.
- eliminate or get rid of.
noun
- a degree of remoteness or separation.
As we walk through this life we tend to accumulate things. I imagine everyone starting out with a small backpack. As time goes by we pick up this habit here, and maybe a bad decision and consequences there… but there comes a time we need to sit down and remove the things slowing us down.
Especially the things that keep us away from our purpose/ ikigai, and those the things that have us stuck in the past. We have to remove them out of our inventory.
How? Really face them. Deal with them in a way that you take it away from you, and place it in God’s hands. (And no take backs)
Reiterate Definition: say something again or a number of times, typically for emphasis or clarity.
When I was thinking of this, I thought of how many forgotten promises I’ve made to myself. Or how many words from the Lord I’ve brushed away because I never acted on them.
Today’s word kinda just dropped in my head as I was thinking, to remind me to remind me. To say those promises I’m trying to stand on until they come or get adjusted. To keep searching for the next step in what I’m telling myself.
We do this for emphasis, or to hype ourselves up, to give us the energy boost to build momentum so whatever comes our way, we have enough force behind us to steamroll right over any obstacle.
The other part is for clarity. The more something is communicated, the better clarity you have in trying to understand what is being said. If you have a vision, communicating it to yourself can come in many ways, vision boards, self talk, studying… but the more you focus on it, the clearer it will become.
What are you telling yourself today?
Say that again!
There comes a time that we dig in and stay grounded in our ways, and “not be moved”.
This is good, but it’s only based on the knowledge of what we knew then. That was yesterday. That was when the times were like so. But today is a new day. Yesterday is in the books. If you are constantly growing, you are constantly hitting new heights.
We will eventually outgrow our pot, and will have to be replanted if we are to continue to grow healthy and strong.
This is especially true for all my new graduates out there. Continue to grow and do what you’ve been called to do. Don’t worry about the rest.
“Rather than living our lives for the approval of others, we must live our lives for an audience of one. Remember, no matter how much the heat is turned up with the pressures to conform, God has given us everything we need to challenge the norm so that we can stand up and stand out for our Lord.” -Rodney & Michelle Gage
Redeem
Verb, so it requires action:
1.) compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something).
2.) gain or regain possession of (something) in exchange for payment.
Let the redeemed say so.
Redeeming yourself is a quest for compensating for our faults, and regaining the position of control over our own lives.
Spiritually, the only way to do this is through God’s redeeming power.
Mentally, the only way to do it is to have a positive power source that gives you the mental fortitude to withstand life’s lessons.
As I was sitting in my thinking chair… I was thinking of how for us to accomplish things we have to alter the arrangement of the things we have setup for ourselves. I was drinking water at the time. Water is a must. It cleans the system, flushes toxins, hydrates the body. But it carries no nutritional value. ZERO.
So for me to drink water like I want, I must also eat healthier to get the nutrients I need.
So for me to eat healthier I have to cut out the junk that I’m eating.
So for me to cut out the junk, I need to have healthy options in place so I won’t have the chance to pick the quicker fast food choice when I want something to eat.
Notice for me to start on a new path how much rearranging must happen?
“For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” Luke 14:28
When you step into your vision and purpose be prepared to make rearrangements to make room for success.
Remembering all the inspiring things I had going on, and how I was being brought out from situations that may have taken me out, the greatest thing I needed each time was to reconnect.
Connections are everything.
My 3 most important connections:
- Connection to God. The author and finisher of my faith. I can do all things through Christ that gives me strength, but first, I have to have a connection.
- Connection to the real me. As I said before know who I am and seeing a place for myself gives me a purpose and ikigai to fulfill. Connecting on the me that I only want people to see can only last so long, and the real me and you will always surface at some point.
- Connection to others. The connections to others allows me to let God live out our partnership through me and I get to be a part of the impact of my circle of influence. I get to help others grow, deepen their faith walk, and enjoy life.
If a connection gets broken, we need to reconnect on a positive note to thrive and flourish in this short span of time we have with each other.