Meryl was talking about her role as the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. She acknowledged the fortitude of Thatcher and all politicians for the ability to deal with the constant negativity that was thrown at them. She also said it was the hardest role she had ever played.

And…. and this was the AND I needed to hear… Meryl Streep said that she got nervous when she walked on the set for the movie.

Thank you, Meryl Streep! I’m free!! You have freed me from my Anxious Annie Critter that attacked me just days earlier. It was a major mental maelstrom and I hadn’t had one of those in years.

Then I remembered that Katherine Hepburn always got nervous before a performance. And Barbara Streisand said she went through the same thing! Knowing that I’m not alone and that it’s not just me that hit those slippery slopes, helped a lot.

But here’s the rub, as Shakespeare would say –  If I’m nervous, that’s one thing. Entertaining self-defeating thoughts is another!

So my goal for the next time I have to do filming (which is in the very near future) is that even if I get nervous…

1. Acknowledge the nervousness
2. Recognize it for what it is
3. Release all self-deprecating thoughts!
4. Take a deep breath and visualize the positive outcome I intend
5. Do whatever I need to do to have that outcome happen (which is usually to ‘over’ study)

I did everything except number 3 last time and it is that third one that sent me into a downward spiral. So I’m on my game again. I’ve learned something very powerful as I return to weeding my mental garden with more commitment to the process than ever before!

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I was going into the video studio to do a series of demos for our anti bullying program, Breaking Out of the World Game. And I was in a panic. I felt like a total failure. I didn’t know my script (which I have taught in nearly 500 hundred schools).

Like the Magic Eight Ball where words keep surfacing out of the black ink, my feelings and thoughts exploded out of the dark onto my mental screen. My world spun out of control. ”Not good enough!” “I can’t do it!” “I feel lost.” ”Where do I start?”

Here I was touting mind management and I couldn’t even manage one thought. What happened!? I hit the wall and I found myself back in my own ground zero.

The only viable thought in the whole thing was really, “Where do I start?” But it took me a while to get there.

When I finally did get there, I took a proactive stance. I went back to the creativity template I had burned into my mental hard drive 30 years ago.

1. Preparation – Engage in the process. Be willing to concentrate fully on the subject. Struggle with it. Visualize it. This feeds everything into the sub-conscious mind. (In my case I had to review the material and think deeply about how to do the video without an audience.)
2. Incubation –  Let it all go. Relax. Change the subject. Play and sleep usually work for me. (In this case, I went to bed. I was going into production the next day.)
3. Breakthrough – This usually comes as an ‘AHA’ experience, like Archimedes ‘Eureka’! This breakthrough cannot be forced and arrives in its own time.

In my case, I got up on the day of the shoot and I was in ‘the zone’. I had an extremely successful day in the video studio.

But I could have done it without all of the panic and the negative self-talk. I could have had more wisdom about it and caught it by the tail before it caught me.

I was reminded of Ashley in The Operator’s Manual for Planet Earth. I had fallen asleep and lost the plot again!

I’ve recommitted to my initial goal. Staying awake on Planet Earth is a challenge, especially when the old deep habits kick in!

I’d love to hear you experiences…. I’m going to keep tracking mine and sharing the experience!Share and Enjoy:

These are little petty indignations, irritations, worry, fear, criticisms and even judgments that have not been fully uprooted. True, I stop them quite quickly when they arise. But I find that their roots are hidden from plain view yet deeply entrenched in my mental soil. They are like little insidious habits of thought that recycle periodically. They seem to catch me unaware from behind and then I become the effect of the emotion it creates.

I have chosen this year to be a year of conscious intention and choice. I am choosing to weed the garden of my mind again! This time my intention is to eradicate the roots of any negative thinking.

I know it’s a mighty intention and will require a a huge leap in self-awareness. I will need to be a sentinel – standing guard at the gate of my own consciousness, observing my every thought as I am thinking it.

In my book, The Operator’s Manual for Planet Earth -An Adventure for the Soul- the biggest challenge the young protagonists face is how to stay conscious on Earth. They would vow to remain aware and conscious yet every time they entered Earth’s Atmosphere in a physical body their light would dim. They would forget to remember their vow.

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Monday, The Power of You, will be our focus as we learn to awaken intuition and discover our inner vision. Several of our participants will be sharing their experiences with you over the next few days, so follow along with our journey. I invite you to leave a comment, send a note or post something on our Facebook wall when you see something that resonates with you.

This year is going to be a time of growth, energy and excitement at TrinidadHunt.com and Élan Enterprises. I can’t wait to share it with you!Share and Enjoy:

“May there be peace in your heart and with your family. I pray that this year brings a transformation and an awakening of love on our planet so that peace shall spread on Earth and good will be in the hearts of all mankind for this year and the years to come.”

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