Another spin on why we don't succeed...

> I read the excerpt from Robert Fritz's book
> earlier and it had a somewhat profound
> effect on my thinking after I got through
> with it.
> I've spent the last few hours driving around
> in my car thinking about the 2 "elastic
> bands" for "VISION" and
> "CONCEPTUAL COMPLEXES". Some heavy
> stuff and very on the mark.
> I wrote down all of my conceptual complexes
> and visions and have spent a good deal of
> time this afternoon and this evening
> thinking about how to eliminate the negative
> obstacles. I think I've got something, at
> least for now:
> This might sound extreme, but what if,
> instead of trying to re-program one's
> thoughts, they simply identified the things
> that "pull" them from their vision
> and eliminated these things completely. For
> example if one of the things that has kept
> you from reaching new heights in your
> business is the late-night TV shows, then
> what if you were to take your TV, box it up
> and put it up in the farthest, darkest
> corner of your attic, behind several other
> large boxes. Then, the following evening,
> when you feel compelled to watch TV, you
> wouldn't be able to, and the hassle of
> climbing into your attic and going into the
> farthest, darkest corner and moving the
> other heavy boxes wouldn't be worth the few
> hours of satisfaction. Of course, this is
> just one example. It's kind of like a
> "cold turkey" approach to
> eliminating one's conceptual complexes.
> Now I'm sure I'm not the first person to
> think of something like this, but I'm
> curious as to what some of you think of this
> idea of taking your conceptual complexes and
> then eliminating them in whatever way they
> need to be eliminated.
> In some cases, this may require making some
> extreme adjustments, but if that's what it
> takes, right? wrong? let's talk about it.
> I'm fascinated by this concept of structural
> tensions.

Chris,

You've really put some thought into this.

I think the whole concept of structural tensions makes sense because you are not trying to 'B.S.' your brain into thinking something that is not 'real'. As Mr. Fritz calls it...
"The Curse of Sanity". He adds, "We are sane in the sense that we can observe reality. If we see a bird, we can't force ourselves to think that it's a dog or a cat or a CD player or a swimming pool. As human beings we have the bad habit of creating symbols out of things. If we see a bird, we can say it's a sign of good fortune, or a sign of death, or a sign of spring. We often mix our observations together with our speculations, and we get muddled. But something inside of us, if we are sane, will not let us get away with too much of that. There's a point where the mind rejects the hypothesis we are trying to impose on it, and fires back with iconoclastic fury. It's a bird. The Emperor has no clothes. A rose is a rose. Cut the sh*t."

Many of don't accomplish what we want because we've let concepts 'muddle' our reality too much. A case in point is when someone can't get a business started because they have no money or no time or what not...Is this reality or false concepts we hold that keeps us from acting?

But you see, it is not just identifying these concepts that hold you back. You need to have a structure in place that is superior to your old one. If not you fall back into the old routine.

How typical is this pattern?

Become frustrated...Look for new opportunity

Find someone making money doing something other than what you are doing...Get excited

Do research...Get more excited

Uncover "Stumbling Block"--usually a case of realizing this new venture will take time and/or money to get off the ground...look for alternative to supplying time/money

Frustration begins to build in starting new venture...Begin wandering off the path

Wait for the project to "Take Off"...Resist spending any more time/money on the project (even though in actuality the person has for the most part spent damn little time/money to see if the project has any merit at all--quite often due to false reality)

Grow more frustrated...Put the project on the back burner

Become frustrated...Look for new opportunity

Take care,

Mike W.