Shapeshifter: Recent Episodes
None
A self-development podcast about paying attention and choosing your evolution, with I/O Psychologist and MBA, Mike Thompson. Learn more at evolutionoptions.com
This is a rather short episode, but to the point. Yeah, as an organizational psychologist, I can't help but speak to employee selection: why people think my selection criteria and processes are too limiting... and yet, why those questioning never seem to find what they're actually looking for... and why I always do.
If you need help on this topic, you know where to find me: mt@evolutionoptions.com
Why is the story of Abraham and Isaac such an archetypal and long-lasting story? Because it relates the importance of sacrifice... That importance being, that you have to be willing to sacrifice something much more than just yourself. You have to be willing to sacrifice everything - your future, even your ideals - everything that matters to you. When you are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice, you are ready to finally see what's in front of you and do something miraculous with it.
In the last episode, I ended with a warning as to how not to fuck up your whole life by neglecting or accidentally abandoning some already satisfied core need... However, since we cannot grow without moving forward, lets talk about how you might actually do that. This is a matter of ramping up your approach circuitry by confronting your avoidance circuitry head-on.
More on the principles underlying The Blueprint - as a way to set up life in a fulfilling manner - specifically on teasing apart a vision of the future into themes that might help you layout a life that addresses your deepest needs.
What kind of life are you building? If you cannot readily and specifically articulate an answer, then who knows...
This second full episode is devoted to my forthcoming book, The Blueprint - A Project Management Approach to Building the Life You Really Want.It's a work in progress, but it's developed enough to share, and especially this critical first step in life design: Identifying your ideals, understanding what your true needs are, and listening to what your soul is telling you about how to get there. In this first introduction, we'll get into establishing a vision for life and how to articulate your ideal self before setting any concrete goals, and why you need to take this step in order to get any fulfillment out of what you undertake. This is about psychological integration and alignment between your head, heart, soul, and actions. If you want to be satisfied with your life, the first priority is being satisfied with yourself... Not in who you are necessarily, but in who you are becoming.
As a followup to last week's mini-cast, once you overcome your limiting self-beliefs, and realize you don't need to keep doing all the shit you've built your whole life around... Then what?
Well, what you do then is not stop using all the strengths you've acquired overcoming those self-imposed weaknesses... What you do then is redefine your purpose and use your strengths to benefit others.
Herein lies my own struggles, questions, and the purpose of my life's work.
Next week, we're going deeper, way deeper. Get ready - I'll bring the tools.
How did you gain your limiting self-beliefs, how are they impacting your life, and what can you do about it?
This mini-cast episode is about our shared limiting beliefs - mine and yours - how they were conditioned into us, consciously or unconsciously, and largely about why it is so hard to overcome them. But there is a way. You'll be introduced to my dog, how I conditioned her; how powerful animals like elephants are conditioned to believe they are powerless (just like us sometimes), and you'll be introduced to the C.U.N.T. model of belief formation and programming as a potential way out of your limiting beliefs.
For me, it is an emotional episode as my thoughts are drawn to my difficulties in personal relationships, and my trained-in belief that I cannot be open and emotional - that it's dangerous and something to be feared. The image is of a sculpture by Alexandr Milov titled Love, which reflects how I often feel. And I'm guessing, by the impact this sculpture had on most onlookers, that you might be able to identify with it to.
Thanks for listening.
Instead of apologizing for all the goddamn fucks in the first episode, I thought I'd explain them to you, so you can use them to your benefit...
What do Bernie Madoff, every former employee of Enron, 5,000 Wells Fargo employees, and former failed US Secretary of Education, Rod Paige all have in common? They all needed to be recognized for their greatness... while hiding their failings. Turns out, it's the same reason why it took me five months to get this recorded. Thanks for listening - feedback welcome!