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by Rick Baker
On Jul 7, 2011
WARNING: "The following interviews and commentaries may fail to provide entertainment only. The views and opinions expressed herein, unless copied from some other source or sources, are those of an individual speaker or writer as the case may be and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of any of the aforementioned sources, their respective affiliates, or their employees."
Mind CONTROL
Have you ever made up your mind? Probably, you’ve said you’ve done that many times. Probably, you’ve said something like, “Well, I have given it some thought and I have made up my mind”. Then you went on to explain your decision.
OK, you agree, you have made up your mind in the past.
How did you do it?
When you made up your mind, I suppose:
- You started with your mind ‘as it was’,
- You considered some options,
- You thought in an organized way, &
- You came to a decision and got it done.
Yes…that sounds like the way you make up your mind.
Much like you have make up your bed….right?
You make up your mind and you make up your bed…those are just parts of everyday life…right1?
OK, you agree…let’s compare those two facts of everyday life.
When you made up your bed:
- You started with your bed ‘as it was’…it was all messy,
- You considered some options…including, doing nothing because you’re just going to undo it later,
- You thought in an organized way…including thoughts like: what happens if relatives visit and go through my room... I shall fluff up the pillows and place them just so... I shall pull up the sheets... etc, &
- You came to a decision and got it done...you stepped back and admired your fine work.
Notice how I slipped in some detail at each step.
Let’s go back and try to slip some detail into the sequence of making up your mind.
- You started with your mind ‘as it was’…
OK – how ‘was it’?
How was your mind when you started to make it up?
Here’s a tougher question…
What was your mind when you started to make it up?
What is your mind?
Write out a clear answer to that last question:
***
If you are struggling with defining or describing your mind then recognize you are not alone. For example, see Footnote 2…it provides the Merriam-Webster dictionary’s definition of the noun ‘mind’
***
If you are thinking “I don’t need to know what my mind is in order to be able to use it or make it up or control it” then you may be treating your mind worse than you treat common possessions like your bed.
***
When you have a clear answer to the question “What is your mind?” then we will be able to move on to step #2 of Mind CONTROL.
Footnotes:
- Please review the at the beginning of this ‘commentary’. For greater certainty, it would be extremely dangerous to interpret this metaphor as a statement in support of the art of . .WARNING making up beds This bed-making example is for solely presented because of its rich illustrative value
- Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary definition of the word MIND
1 : recollection, memory <keep that in mind> <time out of mind>
2 a: the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons b: the conscious mental events and capabilities in an organism c: the organized conscious and unconscious adaptive mental activity of an organism
3 : intention, desire <I changed my mind>
4 : the normal or healthy condition of the mental faculties
5 : opinion, view
6 : disposition, mood
7 a: a person or group embodying mental qualities <the public mind> b: intellectual ability
8 capitalized Christian Science: god 1b
9 : a conscious substratum or factor in the universe
10 : attention <pay him no mind>
by Rick Baker
On Jun 29, 2011
Habits are like rivers.
If your leave them alone they more or less follow the path of least resistance.
Indeed, if you look close enough at habits they are very consistent and if they meander at all then that meandering takes time. That’s similar to what rivers do when the terrain is flat and gently sloped. No surprises. No sudden obstacles. So, a continuous flow of water.
Most of the terrain around our habits is flat and gently sloped. No surprises. No obstacles. So, a continuous flow of habit.
That’s the nature of habits.
Once they flow…they flow...and they stay the course.
A habit stays the course, be it good or be it bad.
When we compare habits to rivers, each has its ‘pros’ and ‘cons’.
The main ‘pro’ enjoyed by a river is: it is governed by an amazing force we call gravity. Gravity makes rivers flow downhill…always toward a larger body of water, either a larger river or a lake or an ocean…always downhill…with feeding a larger body of water being the ultimate purpose/goal.
The main ‘con’ suffered by a river is: it has no ability to choose. Gravity grips and controls it…always.
The main ‘pro’ enjoyed by a habit is: the owner of the habit has choices so the owner can influence the course of the habit. When the course feeds into a positive purpose/goal the habit is a Good Habit.
The main ‘con’ suffered by a habit is: somehow, ‘somewhy’ habits have a tendency to favour the negative. Bad Habits take hold easier than Good Habits. Bad Habits are tougher to break than Good Habits.
The easiest way to adjust habits, if that’s what you want to do, is accept you only do 3 things: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things.
To correct Bad Habits, do New Things…that’s the way to reduce the time available for Bad Habits.
New Things are the bridges to Good Habits.
Footnote:
When in grade 12 I spent some time thinking about becoming a geographer. I was grabbed by the relationship between earth topography and simple mathematics….maps and contour maps…and, of course, treasure maps [but, that’s a different story].
This week, while listening to a new Napoleon Hill audio book I heard something close to “Habits are like rivers…it takes force to change course”. That triggered this Thought Post.
by Rick Baker
On Jun 28, 2011
Where did our marvel go?
Eons ago, Mankind marvelled at the mysterious. We see evidence of that in all continents, in all peoples, and the legacies they have created. We see ancient Japanese artefacts, which look like creatures from space. We read Homer’s Iliad, containing repeated examples of the Ancient Greeks’ daily-life acceptance of the presence and superiority of ‘the gods’.
Now, it seems few of us marvel.
Few cultures embrace the marvel.
It seems we demand scientific evidence and when science can not describe and quantify things with facts and figures we conclude those things can not be real.
Even worse, human beings overestimate what we know a priori.
Scientists entrench around dogma.
Here are a few examples of scientific views to explain what I mean about entrenched dogma:
- The Sun orbits the Earth, not vice-versa: accepted for at least a few hundred years.
- The world is flat: accepted for at least a few hundred years.
- We are born with brain neurons and those brain neurons operate like wires and survive unchanged until they die: accepted for at least a few hundred years.
- Atoms are the smallest pieces of matter: accepted for at least a few hundred years, while for some it has been a couple of millennia.
- Time is a fixed thing: accepted for at least a few hundred years.
- Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light: accepted for at least a few generations.
- The red shift confirms the universe is expanding….hence, the Big Bang theory: accepted for at least a few generations.
- Our DNA sets a firm and fixed recipe, which lasts our lifetime: accepted for a least a few decades.
- Human beings are the only animal on Earth that is capable of reasoning and making choices…all other animals are only capable of reacting.
I suppose it is human nature to presume or conclude our knowledge to be factually accurate…to be ‘real’…and in some cases ‘to be a priori’. I suppose it is easier that way. It is easy to accept dogma and allow it to squeeze out the marvel. I suppose dogma affords us comfort. For example – religious and political dogma provide such comfort, so, religions and politics have flourished.
Desire for comfort is a major part of the fabric of the human condition.
And Mankind is fractioned by the hard lines of the major religions and political boundaries. Conflicts, essentially tribal battles and warfare, exist on a worldwide scale. This is a dangerous situation and there is no question, Mankind can put its feelings and its knowledge to more-constructive use.
While that helps introduce why and how ‘knowledge’ may be accepted as a priori it does not explain why or how ‘knowledge’ beyond religious and political boundaries is accepted as a priori.
Some folks believe our knowledge can be split into components:
- Things we know
- Things we do not know but we are capable of knowing
- Things we do not know and we are not capable of knowing
I have a different opinion…or, is it a question?
I wonder if we truly know anything.
Over the last few years, things keep catching my attention.
Here are examples:
- I read about Egyptians preserving mummies’ hearts and other body parts for the afterlife while throwing away the brains…what did the Ancient Egyptians know when they did that?
- I experienced a 4-piece synchronicity around the word ‘Matrix’…I can shrug off 2-piece and maybe even 3-piece synchronicities but I absolutely had to draw the line at 4! What do we know about synchronicity?
- I read about Milarepa's Cave in Nepal where a handprint is embedded in the wall of the cave…supposedly a result of the power of thought…what did Milarepa know?
- I watched a TV documentary about cities, or at least things that look much like cities, hidden deep in the ocean at various places around the world….what do we know about that Lost City of Atlantis?.
- I listened to an audio book that stated we now know all the particles in the universe…and I had to rewind to make sure my ears weren’t playing tricks on me. How can we be anywhere near confident enough to say we know that?
- I listened to an audio book that stated Konrad Zuse, an early computer pioneer had postulated the universe could be a simulation, the consequence of programming much like computer software…and now I have watched a TV documentary where a fellow insists machines/robots will self-evolve during the next 20 or 30 years to the point they will do a ‘Planet of the Apes thing’ on humans. Did Konrad Zuse know what he was talking about?
- I have read experiments have confirmed information has travelled faster than the speed of light: in fact, particles have defied other laws of physics including time travel. So, do we now know at least one thing can travel faster than the speed of light?
These examples joined other thoughts that have lingered with me for several years.
Examples:
- Humans knew the world was spherical more than 1000 years before they believed it was flat.
- We have minimal evidence confirming the universe is expanding. So much rests on the ‘red shift’ including the age of our universe.
- Human perception is a fragile thing. Our brains exhibit plasticity: our perceptions alter the physical structure of our brains and that in cycle alters how our brains operate. It is an iterative process.
- When we observe things we change them: this is graphic when we are observing [with the help of machines] small subatomic things. This is also becoming evident at the neuronal level. Things happen at the boundaries of perception.
- We understand the Earth’s crust shifts with time: mountain rock striations and fossils confirm the extent of major changes over time. We live close to 500°F. For the people of Tokyo the distance between homes and inferno is about 3 miles.
- We know little about our subconscious ‘mind’: curiously, we struggle with a name for that ‘thing’. During recent decades we have called it subconscious, unconscious, and non-conscious.
- On top of that we debate whether or not we have minds. [Science hasn’t found one yet.]
- We debate whether or not we have souls. [Again, science hasn’t found one yet.]
I have concluded we really know very little.
Human beings really know very little.
We perceive and accept estimates.
We call those estimates knowledge.
Sometimes we call the estimates a priori knowledge.
That’s not a condemnation. We should not view that as a bad thing. However, we must keep in mind as we learn more. As we learn more we must keep our minds wide-open, ready to receive knowledge, as unbiased as possible, and non-judgmental.
For the benefit of humankind, we should direct attention to resolving the most-important questions:
- The mystery of the ‘intelligence’ greater than that of Mankind known as the Universal Intelligence, God, etc.
- The marvel of the life-force…what is it that causes life forms to desire survival and ‘to be fittest’ so they evolve?
- The history of civilization on Earth: particularly, resolution of the common ground in the various creation stories in major religions
- The details of the major driving components in humans known as soul, mind, heart, and brain: what are these things, where are these things, how do they operate, and how do the interact internally and externally
- The mystery of humanity: how does the life and death of humans fit in the overall scheme of the universe
These topics should be approached in a manner that paves a better path for future knowledge growth, a human consensus on:
- What do humans truly know?
- What are humans capable of knowing if we approach these questions with a worldwide pooled effort?
- What knowledge lies beyond human capabilities?
We can set flexible boundaries, knowing we will have better information in the future.
We can use a multi-disciplinary approach, involving scientists and religious leaders…using methods like those embraced by the Dalai Lama.
We can nurture an attitude of wonder and marvel.
We can use the tremendous power of our new worldwide technology and ‘social media’ communication tools…bringing the value of developed competence to bear on these important mysteries.
We can unite the brainpower of the world…
…and, while we do it, we can marvel.
by Rick Baker
On Jun 23, 2011
Sales Tweet #244 The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. [Anonymous]
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
I enjoy the English language…all those puns and plays on words and all the opportunities for double or more entendre. This saying is sticky…a little ‘extra’ plus ‘ordinary’ makes ‘extraordinary’. Certainly, this is technically correct. Possibly, it is theoretically correct. But, is it practically correct? Regardless, we can conclude: it doesn’t take a huge effort to be more than ordinary. We just need to do a little extra. That’s why I like this saying.
by Rick Baker
On Jun 7, 2011
Sales Tweet #232 When we are able to boil essences of things down to a single word we possess a tool of genius!
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
When we have that tool of genius we can apply it to our business thought and communication. We can benefit from creative thinking, putting it to use daily (in our marketing, as just one example); quickly get to the true root of problems…so solutions jump out at us; understand the Leader’s Role…and communicate it well, and expand Business Success.
by Rick Baker
On May 25, 2011
I had the pleasure of attending Canadian General Rick Hillier’s presentation at the recent WRHBA lunch.
What an interesting military leader! What a clear message!
“If you are or want to be a leader then remember one thing – people. Focus on people.”
General Hillier talked about process, technology, structure, and organization.
But he was emphatic about the most-important thing ...“focus on people”…
- Choose people well
- Give them credit when they do things well
- Your job is to free up people…their bodies and their minds
- One person can make a difference!
- Perpetual optimism translates into the emotion - Passion
- People outside your company can help…don’t limit yourself
- When there are dark days go back to the basics – focus on people.
General Hillier also talked about Action:
- Leaders Actions speak loudly
- Take Actions to back up your words
- Look them in the eye!
General Hillier talked about “being yourself”…he told many stories…and the stories confirmed our famous General has quite a sense of humour.
As our General Hillier told one story [about relaying the affection of a young Canadian girl to her soldier sweetheart in the Middle East] I couldn’t help but think about General George Patton. U.S. General Patton had a profound sense of duty and honour. During World War 2 he was disciplined for ‘roughing up’ one of his soldiers who, apparently, did not live up to Patton’s high standards for courage. General George Patton was a leading strategist who illustrated more than enough action to back up his words. Yet, his reputation is tarnished by what was considered to be excessive force on his own people. Our Canadian General Hillier took a different approach during his 35-year career. Certainly, ‘times have changed’. And, that may explain some of it. However, when people are in the battlefields, as our forces are now in Afghanistan, I expect the most-important things, the ‘human conditions’, have not changed… the people still experience the fears, the fatigue, the stresses of warfare as a big part of their daily life.
We owe much gratitude to the people of our armed forces…for the risks they take and the work they do to ensure freedom and fairness in our country and around the world.
And, we owe much gratitude to our General Rick Hillier for the top-notch service he provided during his military career and the uplifting messages he now shares with leaders in our Canadian communities.
Let’s follow General Hillier’s advice: “focus on people”.
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