“Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom cannot be passed from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof.”

Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892)

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Wisdom 2.0 Business Conference at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. It’s a gathering of more than 500 people exploring ways to bring wisdom, consciousness, presence and mindfulness fully alive in the business context. It was a fabulous conference and I highly recommend you consider attending the next one in February 2013, I’ll be there! You can find more information here: Wisdom 2.0 Conference.

There was a great deal of positive optimism, hope, and inspiration present in everyone. However one of the things I found very interesting was also a sense of cynicism and skepticism. As we all know, “there is no crying in baseball” right? The world of business is a tough, dog-eat-dog world where you put your nose to the grindstone, don the flack-jacket and take no prisoners. This is no place for weak, mushy things like love, compassion, caring, appreciation, and whatever this thing “mindfulness” might be. Right?

Frankly, there is SOME truth to this. The business world is unique in its demand for efficiency and careful allocation of resources. The margins for error (think wasting time and money) are narrower in the arena of business than pretty much anywhere else. If you waste too much time and money, eventually you have no business. So it’s understandable why folks might believe you have to be an intense driver and make things happen. Hello! You can’t just be sitting around meditating! Time’s a wastin’!

But I want to go deeper into this belief – deeper into what’s really driving and underlying this “take no prisoners” attitude. People at the conference knew it would take a new level of courage to bring about this change we were all seeking. Why will it take a new level of courage? What’s this all about? Why so much resistance?

In this blog we’ll go a little deeper into this resistance and see why true wisdom takes real courage. Being able to access your own wisdom is a major outcome of the Major Good Mojo System.

Read on and enjoy!

True Wisdom Takes Real Courage

As a wise and conscious person I bet you can guess what is underlying the “take no prisoners” attitude about business. Yep, that’s right, fear. We are afraid that if we don’t MAKE THINGS HAPPEN AND CONTROL EVERYTHING, that everything will go to hell in a hand basket and everyone, including us, will be screwed. AKA “out of business, broke and on the streets, a loser in the world.” Right? We are afraid of that happening so we get very busy, trying to dominate and control everything.

Parker J. Palmer wrote a fabulous little book called Let Your Life Speak. At one point in this book he outlines what he calls the “shadows of leadership,” negative concepts or beliefs that we hold that can block us or render our path almost impassable. Examples are insecurity about identity and worth, the belief that the universe is hostile, and fear of the chaos of life. These are some of negative concepts that can block us. I’ve seen and experienced them in myself and seen them in others. But there was another that Palmer described, called “Functional Atheism.” This is a BELIEF that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with us.

 Palmer states:

“This is the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it happen. This belief leads us to impose our will on others, stressing our relationships, sometimes to the point of breaking. It often eventuates in burnout, depression, and despair, as we learn that the world will not bend to our will and we become embittered about that fact. It drives collective frenzy as well and explains why the average group can tolerate no more than fifteen seconds of silence: if we are not making noise, we believe, nothing good is happening and something must be dying.”

Wow. And ouch. This need for control stems from fear and underneath that fear there is distrust. Or said another way, a lack of trust, and this lack of trust is ultimately in the Universe itself. Can you see that? We don’t trust the Universe, therefore we are afraid. Because we fear things are not going to turn out, we must dominate them and force them and control them in a mad frenzy. What fun. I have a friend, who, after regaling me with the troubles and stressors in her life, wailed, “Oh, if I could just get CONTROL, then I could RELAX!” When she realized what she had said, we both burst out laughing.

 So where did this distrust come from? Why do we have this underlying lack of trust in the Universe? Is it founded on good data? Do we distrust the Universe to beat our hearts for us? Do we distrust the Universe to provide us air to breathe? Do we have to make the sun rise each day? Do we have to create gravity each day so we don’t fly off the planet into space? Do we have to make the rain fall so we don’t die of thirst? ALL of life is ultimately a partnership with life itself. Even making money, making products, delivering services, any project or activity you can think of, is actually a partnership with life, with the Universe.

Fundamentally any effort-filled, forceful, tiring, stressful struggle is based in ignorance. It’s a lack of awareness of life energy itself. It’s based in fear (that the results will not happen), distrust (the Universe will not provide), attachment (that if the results I want don’t happen then bad things WILL happen), and separation (I’m the only one who can make this happen – just little ole’ me who must shoulder this burden). Fear, distrust, attachment, and separation…hmmm. We can start to see why there is skepticism and cynicism when it comes to bringing Wisdom alive in the workplace, and why a fair amount of courage will be required to bring it about.

The truth is you DO have a role, and effort is required, it’s just that it’s not ALL about you. What I’m talking about is awareness and partnership. It is about maximizing and optimizing your role and the role of the Universe. It’s a dance, a dance in awareness that you are part of something far larger than your self (small “s”). The truly wise person will partner with that something else, TRUST it and work with it to maximize the experience of being alive, (and yes, this is a practice that is engaged day-in and day-out, over time). Ultimately, you can maximize the results you have been inspired to create, even bottom-line business success.

There IS room for wisdom, compassion, mindfulness, presence, joy, trust, and even love in business. Frankly, these are all traits or characteristics of a spiritually grounded and connected person. Or instead of using the word spiritual (since business does not like that word) you could say awake, alive, and fully integrated human being. This is what is missing in most corporations today. There is a HUGE opportunity not only for each of us as individuals, but also for corporations in this. And it’s up to us to bring it alive

To develop your felt experience of true wisdom and a deep trust in the power of the Universe herself, I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Our lives are so full of stuff. Not just material physical stuff, but sound and noise as well. How often during our days do we get to really experience a powerful silence?

Parker J. Palmer said the average group of people can tolerate no more than 15 seconds of silence. 15 seconds! This is how long most people can be quiet before someone feels compelled to “make some noise” and say something. He points out the belief that if we aren’t making noise then NOTHING is happening and likely something is even dying. So we get busy and fill the void with noise.

There’s some kind of discomfort that arises in silence, especially in groups – I’m sure you’ve experienced it, I know I have. We even have a name for it, “the uncomfortable silence,” as in “an uncomfortable silence fell over the room.” But we also have another term, “the pregnant pause,” that is pointing more toward what I’m talking about here: there is something in the silence that wants to be born.

Close your eyes, take a slow deep breath, and give yourself the gift of 60 seconds of silence and just notice what you notice. Relax into the arms of the Universe and make some space for GRACE.

The more powerful you become sitting in the silence, the more you can access Major Good Mojo!

“We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us.”  Marcel Proust (1871 – 1922)

Wisdom is deep inside each and every one of us. If wisdom is right here, right where we are, why are so few truly tapped in?

Today I am attending the Wisdom 2.0 Business Conference at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. This is a conference dedicated to exploring and developing the role of wisdom in the world of work. This is a topic I am keenly interested in, for I know there are untapped depths to be plumbed in each and every employee in the working world today.

In the working world of the past we have been asked to “check our souls at the door,” or said another way “to sell our souls to the corporation,” and blindly follow their lead, performing like automatons for the glory of a bigger bottom line. There was no place in this old working world for passion, heart, love, and dynamic solutions that address and fulfill the whole of human existence.

But today is a new day. And what used to work is increasingly failing us. The successful companies of tomorrow will have figured out how to employ ALL of their employees’ being – not just their minds, but also their bodies, hearts, and souls – and to employ those powerful and unique resources to truly meet the needs of the communities they serve. This will be divine work that includes the bottom line, but goes far beyond it.

In this blog we explore why wisdom is so hard to come by. Being able to access your own wisdom is a major outcome of the Major Good Mojo System.

Read on and enjoy!

Where is Wisdom? Why is it So Hard to Come By?

Wisdom comes from a deep place inside us, where most people rarely visit. Wisdom can be defined as thoughts, feelings, concepts, and ideas that are bigger than you and facilitate the greater good of the whole. The only way to have and experience these types of thoughts, feelings, concepts and ideas for yourself is to connect with something bigger than you. We can call this God, Universal Intelligence, Great Spirit, or Source.

This is no longer about religion, or faith, or philosophy. Today’s world demands we go beyond these limiting mental constructs deep into the felt experience of true wisdom. This depth, this experience, this wisdom, is available to each and every person willing to let go and surrender their “smaller self” into this larger “bigger than you” reality.

Both my book NexGen Human and my ´”10 Step Major Good Mojo System” are all about establishing a strong partnership with God, Universal Intelligence, Great Spirit, or Source. I see this as THE most critical skill to survive and thrive in the 21st century. With the amount of change, information, and choices exponentially increasing in our lives, it’s ESSENTIAL we connect with the changeless, infinite, wise guidance inside.

While Spirit communicates with us in many ways, one of the most powerful and effective ways I have found to partner with the power of the Universe is to tune into my own body. If it’s true that we and Great Spirit are one, then we need look no further than right here, right where we are, to tap into divine intelligence and guidance.

So why aren’t more people doing this? If wisdom is available to each of us, inside us, why are we not tapped into it? Well, in our western paradigm of living we are accustomed to thinking of intelligence arising, or coming from, the head. Familiar terms like “Use your head” and “Get your head in the game,” exemplify this way of thinking.

However, what science has discovered in recent years is that intelligence actually exists all over the body; in fact there are neurons, similar to those in our brain, that exist in the heart and as well in the stomach. The new field of neuro-cardiology has called this bundle of neurons in the heart the heart-brain, and those in the stomach have been named the belly-brain.

In addition, studies have shown there is more communication going from the heart to the brain, than from the brain to the heart. The brain does not run the heart – in fact, in a fetus, the heart is formed and starts pumping before the brain is formed. And if you know anything about heart-transplants, you’ll know that a heart removed from the body can continue to beat with no connection to the brain. And those neurons in the gut, they produce the familiar “gut instinct.” We haven’t really understood these things until now.

Someone once said “There is more wisdom from the neck down, than from the neck up.” This is an amazing thing to truly realize, and starts to turn our brain-centered, head-centered western way of thinking and being “on its head.” The bottom line here is that there is wisdom, insight, and intelligence coming from other parts of ourselves!

So why don’t we hear the wisdom from our body? First of all the head is so dominant with its screaming and yelling and nonstop fear-based messages that the subtle aspects of ourselves get drowned out; you just can’t hear them. The voice of wisdom coming from our body is the often-talked-about but seldom heard “still small voice.” It really is still and small. You have to want to hear it, get still, and really listen. If you don’t do this the head continues to dominate you with fear-based, survival-oriented commands. This is unfortunate, because with your head running your life, your life becomes a death march that’s all about avoiding pain, seeking pleasure, and controlling as much as possible. This is called survival and it’s completely void of God-like experiences including joy, unconditional love, compassion, inspiration, deep peace and serenity.

Here’s an interesting insight. Spiritual practices are pretty much ALL about one thing: connecting to Source. That’s it. In one way, shape, or form they are ALL doorways to connecting with Source. Chanting, meditating, prayer, postures, mudras, mantras, etc. etc. etc. Anything you can think of. Every single one of these things is A MEANS TO THE END. Mostly they are about calming and quieting our mental, physical, or emotional distractions. Why? So we can finally connect, hear, and EXPERIENCE that still small voice that is the God Inside each and every one of us.

Think of the mind, or your head, as the manager, and think of your body, and especially your heart, as the leader, as the visionary. Without a divinely inspired vision, the manager, or your head, is just spinning its wheels doing busy work. Your mind is there to serve your heart; however most people are so in their mind, and disconnected from their body-based wisdom, that the mind is dysfunctionally running the show. With these insights your practice becomes about getting connected to your body and accessing ALL your wisdom.

To develop your felt experience of true wisdom, your strong connection with God, Universal Intelligence, Great Spirit, Source I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Sit in a comfortable position with your feet flat on the ground and your hands resting on your thighs. Take several deep belly breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Close your eyes and feel your awareness draining down from your head, down into your body. You can literally sense this energetic shift of awareness-energy coming down from your head, down into your body. Imagine your awareness just melting down from your head down into your body as you breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth. Do this for a minute or two and longer if you want.

Once you have moved your awareness down into your body, just sit calmly in that state for a few moments and notice the quality of your thoughts and feelings. If you have truly succeeded at moving your awareness-energy down into your body, your will likely notice your thoughts are more peaceful, calm, confident, courageous, loving, inspired, and actually wise.  More, one might say, “God-like” in their quality.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

Maya Tulum Beach

How are you different from every other human being on this planet? While it is true we’re all here sharing the experience of being human, and that gives us commonality, we are each totally unique beings having our own unique experience of life.

Think about it. You can see this truth in the simplest of things. Some people love the beach while others love the mountains. Some people love Chinese food, while others hate it. Some people love modern art; others hate it. Some people like trucks while others prefer sports cars. We are all having our own unique experience in life – leading to things we like and don’t like, that we think are good or bad – sourced out of the totally unique entity we each are.

How is it that you determine what’s true for you? Have you ever thought about that? Why do you prefer the beach or the mountains?  Why do you love or hate Chinese food? Why do you love or hate modern art? Why do you prefer trucks or sports cars? Or why do you not care about any of these things at all? How do you know these things? Where does that knowledge come from?

In this issue of Major Good Mojo we illuminate the power of your unique truth, how it is determined, and how important it is. Knowing and embracing your truth is a major outcome of the Major Good Mojo System.

Read on and enjoy!

One of the most powerful stories I was ever told, and one which helped me embrace my unique truth and experience in life, I call “The Analogy of The Tongue.” I know that may sound a little gross, but it is memorable.

Years ago a good friend of mine saw that I was struggling to really embrace who I was as a minister, an evolutionary advocate, and a spiritual conduit. I didn’t really know what was evolving through me at that time. In the model in which I had grown up, and the life I was living at that time, it didn’t make any sense. I didn’t have any context or precedence for it.

 So he said this to me:

He asked me to name a food I do not like. I told him eggplant. He said, “OK, why do you not like eggplant?” I said “Because it’s gushy, mushy, usually gray in color, and has a paste-like taste to it. There is nothing about it for me to like.” He said “Great. Now, what if I told you everybody else is eating it, would you then eat it?” I said, “A lot of other people do like and eat it, and I still do not eat it. Therefore, no.” He said “OK, great.

Now, what if I told you you should eat it, because it’s good for you and it’s the right thing to do. Then would you eat it? Might you like it then?” I said, “No, I don’t care what you say about it, I know I don’t like it and don’t want to eat it.” He said, “Good.”

He went on to say “Now, is this something you would purchase, prepare, and serve dinner guests?” And I said “No way. I would not serve them something I myself do not like. In fact, I wouldn’t even know if it was good or not anyhow. So, no, I would not serve it to guests at my house for dinner.” Then he said, “Is there anything I or anyone could do to make you like and eat eggplant?” I said “No, I just don’t like it.”

He said “Great. Your purpose in life, and all things in life, is just like this. It’s that simple.” And he was, and is, so right. Your purpose is innate in you, as are your preferences for food. You like some things and you don’t like other things. You won’t try to like and eat eggplant because everyone else does, or because someone tells you you should, or because someone else asks for it.

So don’t try to force yourself into SOMEONE ELSE’S TRUTH! Eat and serve others what you know and like – YOUR truth. Anything else is a disservice to yourself and others. It’s not authentic!

You have a tongue, or a taste, for everything that is true for you. And this includes God. How do you know what God is for you? How do you know which religion or path or philosophy is “the truth?” You know because you test it against your own internal “truth meter.” You are always automatically asking yourself “Does this seem true to me? Does this feel right to me? Do I like this? Do I want more of this?” We do this with everything – and so does everybody else. This is how we find our truth – including the truth for us when it comes to God.

If each person has his or her own truth about life and the world, their own unique experience, then there really is no truth – EXCEPT – and this is really important – EXCEPT what’s true FOR YOU. Truth is a personal thing. Truth is created by you, for you. No one can tell you what’s true for you. And vice versa – you cannot tell others what’s true for them. Although, of course, lots of people try.

It’s important to realize that your truth ultimately comes from within you, not from some source outside. And, just as importantly, realize this is true for everyone else too. Just because something makes complete and total sense for you, doesn’t mean it makes complete and total sense for everyone else, or anyone else for that matter. Just like you, everyone has their own unique experience and perspective of the world. And just like you, they believe what they believe, and they like what they like, and don’t like what they don’t like, because that’s what is true FOR THEM.

We live in a community of many levels: from the family; to the neighborhood; to the town; to the city; to the state; to the nation; to the planet. We all have a role in the functioning of the community, at one or many levels, and it’s essential we each play our authentic, inspired role, and that we each know, own, and share our unique truth. At the same time, we must allow others to play their role, and own, and share their unique truth. Whatever that may be and however that may look.

To further empower and live your own unique truth I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Take a moment to reflect on what’s true for you and how it’s absolutely unique for you. Think about how this is true for everyone else on the planet. Ask yourself “Do I honor my truth and determine it for myself? Or do I bow to external authority and tend to believe what others say is true?” Are there opportunities or areas where you can more greatly empower YOUR truth?

And just as important, ask yourself “Do I allow and honor the unique truth that others have? Or do I more often try to impose my reality and truth on them?” Are there areas where you could more greatly honor and respect the unique truth of others as THEIR truth?

If you can really get this, you will be free – free to fully be yourself, and free to allow others to be fully themselves.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

This picture was taken last Thursday in Sacramento, California, where I took part in a panel of experts on coaching.

What distinguishes life coaching from these other forms of coaching is pretty obvious – it’s about your LIFE, the whole kit and caboodle – while the other forms are more focused in a particular arena. From my perspective, to be really effective, you’ve got to look at the whole person, not just one aspect. It’s not unlike medicine – the best doctors treat the whole person, not just a symptom or problem.

At the event I shared that as a Spiritual Life Coach and “A Partner for your Soul’s Purpose,” I’m interested in the deepest aspects of living: one’s core truth, mission, and purpose. My particular treatment and prescription is the Major Good Mojo Coaching Program and System. Over the past 13 newsletters, I’ve outlined step-by-step the entire 10-step system.

While the Major Good Mojo System does teach specific tools and processes, these are conduits for the expression of your own UNIQUE divinity. It’s through these tools that you discover YOUR truth, find YOUR way, and embrace your total individuality and uniqueness.

In this blog I emphasize the power of your uniqueness and the importance of tapping into that truth, following wherever it may lead. Being able to achieve this skillfully is one of the biggest benefits and outcomes of the Major Good Mojo System.

Read on and enjoy!

Finding Your Own Unique Way – Your Hero’s Journey!

“You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life & Work

The Hero’s Journey is your own personal journey of self-discovery, knowledge, growth, and transformation. It’s your personal exploration of the mystery of life, of your life, of coming to know more and more who and what you really are.

It’s very important to know there are lots of ways to engage this journey. I’ve enjoyed many personal growth and transformational programs, investing far more than $100K in my own transformation, not to mention significant amounts of time and energy. And every little bit of it has been absolutely worth it. But there is one enormous thing I have learned, and I want you to know: ultimately they all lead to the same place – back to YOU. So don’t worry about taking “the right” pathway. You cannot get lost. It’s more important to just get started, to get on the path. All of the pathways are essentially facilitating the same thing in different ways – self-knowledge. This entails knowing yourself at deeper and deeper and more powerful levels.

I’d like you to consider that your life is like a beautiful mosaic that you create piece by piece over time; you don’t know exactly what the final picture will look like. But you do know that by authentically selecting and engaging each piece, as each piece comes together, you’ll end up with your own unique, beautiful and satisfying work of art. This is creating your own path, true to the quote by Joseph Campbell.

We tend to look at life in a linear fashion; this follows this, then this follows that, and so on. Think of going to school: there’s kindergarten through 12th grade; then college; then a job; then marriage; then kids, etc. It’s all very logical and linear and can become limiting if that is your only view of life.

Looking at your life like a mosaic, or perhaps as a patchwork quilt, is a much broader view that allows a lot more freedom and creativity. It allows each piece to stand on its own – nothing necessarily has to precede it or follow it. Then other pieces, (many other pieces, in fact), can build off of it and go in multiple directions, all within the context of the overall mosaic of your life. Sometimes you can’t see the role a particular piece will play until more of the mosaic is built. As that larger picture comes into view those previously strange pieces can suddenly make sense.

A criticism of modern spirituality is that we are approaching wisdom traditions like a cafeteria buffet – taking only what we want and leaving the rest – thereby disrespecting those traditions and decimating their paths. There certainly can be some misunderstanding generated when rituals or practices are taken out of context. Examples might be, “because I do yoga I understand the path of the Indian Yogi,” or “because I participated in a sweat lodge, I understand Native American Spirituality.” Yoga postures and the sweat lodge experience are small parts of much, much larger and rich philosophies, practices, and approaches to life.

However, if you look historically at how religions, traditions, and movements have formed and begun, the good, powerful and lasting ones frequently take the best of what is available in their time and then add their own new perspectives and approaches. This actually is an aspect of evolution; we take the best of what is available, blend things together in new ways, and thereby make them even better. This is how I created the 10-Step Major Good Mojo System. I put together the best tools and processes for powerful living I had found (appropriately licensed and trained to do so, not just ripping things off) into a one-of-a-kind unique system that produces results for my clients. This is a path that helps you enter the forest at the darkest point and CREATE YOUR OWN PATH.

This is how I encourage you to create and live your life. Make it your own. Explore, have fun, allow yourself not to know, allow the unfolding of your life experience and see what it wants to become. This is a practice of discovery as you build your own life’s mosaic.

To develop the skills that will help you create and discover your own unique path I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Collect a pile of magazines that you don’t mind cutting up, and a large cork board and push pins from an office store. Flip through the magazines, stopping when a picture resonates with you. Is it a shot of mountain climbing? Is it a teacher in front of a group of students? Is it of a veterinary clinic? Visual images can stir us in unique ways to help us identify deep longings. These examples may show you a longing for adventure, for a new career as a teacher, or to work with animals.

At any age, male or female, this technique can help you get in touch with your passions, your dreams, and your deepest desires.  To find your way and make your own path!

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

Friends at Esalen

This picture was taken at The Esalen Institute during an ITP (Integral Transformative Practice) Mastery Program Retreat. I always have a smile on my face when I’m at Esalen. Beauty, peace, and joy are so easily experienced there. It’s like Heaven On Earth, especially when you’re there with kindred spirits.

This past weekend I was with Dr. John Gray at his Mars/Venus Soul Mate Seminar. What a great program – I highly recommend it. He offered many profound and helpful ideas, when it comes to finding your soul mate. Here is one of his ideas that struck me: He suggested that you ask yourself, “Do you like who you are when you’re in their presence?” If your answer is “yes, most of the time,” that’s a good sign. If “no,” then you might want to reconsider the relationship. You can apply this to any relationship, group, or community. Do you like who you are when you are with them?

Have you ever heard the statement “Hell is other people”? I really laughed when I first heard that because of course there is some truth to it. However, the opposite is just as true or even truer: “Heaven is other people.” The key is: WHAT people? And to a very large extent, this is up to you. Of the seven billion or so people now living on Planet Earth, you get to choose the ones you are going to spend time with. Isn’t that amazing?

In this issue of Major Good Mojo we take a closer look at this very important element for your personal power and fulfillment: finding kindred spirits on your path. This is Step 10 of the Major Good Mojo System: “Connect with a Loving, Supportive, Inspiring Community.”

Read on and enjoy!

Hell is Other People – Or is it?

Step 10 of The Major Good Mojo System is: Connect with a loving, supportive, inspiring community.  As the old saying goes, no man is an island. To live a truly fulfilling life we need others. This is especially true when beginning to step out into new ways of living for the first time. You need a group of supportive people who can love and support you.  Who see and believe in the best for you. Who know who you really are and what you are hoping to achieve. The reason we are not alone on this planet is because we need each other. The key is to find your tribe, to find YOUR people. This is not always an easy thing to do.

I remember I was working with a professional life coach in the late 90s and he kept repeating to me, “Roger, you gotta get out there and meet your people.” I was sharing all this stuff with him about consciousness and living a creative life, and pouring my passions out to him in our sessions. He kept prodding me to get out there, to find those places where I and my ideas would be welcomed. I finally took his advice and found several communities where this was true. It made all the difference in the world to be with people who could understand me, who would support and encourage me, and even challenge me to get better, clearer, or more committed.

You know you’ve found your community, your people, or your tribe when you are accepted for who you are, you naturally fit in, and it’s easy for you to be yourself, say what you are thinking and feeling, and grow in the relationship.

One very interesting element of community is that “who we are with others, is not who we are when alone.” Think about it. Who you are, the thoughts you are having, the things you say, the things you do, are different depending on who is with you. This is a very interesting characteristic of relationships. We’ve all been around people who make us feel good or who inspire us. And on the other hand, we’ve all been around people who depress us and suck the energy out of us. Clearly, we are affected by the people with whom we are interacting.

In the spring 1996 issue of “The Noetic Sciences Review,” Margaret Wheatley (Organizational Consultant and author of Leadership and the New Science: Learning About Organization from an Orderly Universe) wrote an article about the hidden intelligence orchestrating and organizing all things in the Universe. In this article one of the things she pointed out was: who we are when we’re with others, or who we are in community, is different than who we are when we’re alone.

Margaret reveals the seldom realized and amazing fact that you cannot understand the power of an individual by assessing or understanding who they are when alone. You have to look at them when in community and in relationship with others! However, she pointed out, “none of the personality assessors or indicators (e.g. Myers-Briggs) let us know who or what we are capable of being when we are in community with one another.”

As your mission becomes clearer and your confidence in who you are becomes greater and greater, your ability to identify, attract, and engage people on your path gets stronger and stronger.On the flip side, your ability to know who and what is NOT on your path gets stronger and stronger as well. And eventually, what comes along with this knowledge is your ability to say NO to who and what is not on your path. The funny thing is, people and opportunities NOT on your path will likely keep showing up, especially in the early stages of engaging your mission. These become opportunities for you to continue embracing who and what you are, by saying NO to who and what is not on your path. (Side note:  these people actually ARE on your path, however they are there for you to say and strengthen your “no”).

Eventually you get to a point in life where it’s about living your mission and making your contribution to the world. This is what becomes most important. If someone does not support, or is not aligned with this highest purpose and vision for your life, then it serves no one (including them!) to spend your time and energy with them. Having this kind of capacity requires that you are very clear on your own authentic life path and mission (achieved through Steps 5 and 6 of The Major Good Mojo System: Get connected to your Purpose and Passions). When you have clarity on this, it becomes a lot easier to say YES and NO to best facilitate your service and gifts into the world.

Connecting with loving, inspiring, and supportive people, groups, and communities is an essential element for living a truly fulfilling life. To bring this alive in your life I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Reflect on the following questions:

-       Who in your life right now does NOT support the highest vision of yourself? Who do you NOT feel empowered and good in the presence of? List these people, groups, and communities. Decide right now to give less of your time, attention, and energy to these people on your path that are not serving you (nor is it serving them!).

-       Who in your life right now DOES support the highest vision of yourself? Who do you feel empowered and good in the presence of? List these people, groups, and communities. Decide right now to give MORE of your time, attention, and energy to these people on your path that ARE serving and supporting the highest vision of yourself.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

This picture was taken on a recent hike of mine on the mountain in my backyard, Mt. Diablo.

Have you noticed the conversation about health and diet really ramping up these days? It’s been prevalent since the exercise revolution of the 70’s, but recently seems more and more people are getting sick. The side effects of living in our modern world are catching up with us. It seems people are either too busy (I don’t have enough time) or too depressed (I don’t care) to take care of themselves. Both of these conditions – too busy or too depressed – lead to sedentary lifestyles coupled with consumption of highly processed, convenience foods. You can get away with this for a while, but eventually it catches up with you.

The data and research are clearer today than ever before: proper diet and regular exercise are the keys to healthy living. Almost every disease in our modern world can be linked back to poor diet and lack of exercise (plus mental/emotional stress). These are factors in which YOU are in control, NOT your genes, destiny, or bad luck. I see it on PBS all the time: people reversing chronic health ailments like coronary artery disease, migraines, even cancer, through changes in diet and exercise. Not to mention just plain old feeling better with more optimism and energy!

In this issue of Major Good Mojo we look at one of the most important ingredients for creating your life’s dreams and desires: taking conscious, loving care of your physical body. This is Step 9 of the Major Good Mojo System: “Feel Good In Your Body – Look After It!”

Read on and enjoy!

The Two Most Abused Modern Miracles: Diet and Exercise

Step 9 of the 10 Step Major Good Mojo System is “Feel Good In Your Body – Look After It!” This step has multiple aspects to it, all of them about taking care of your physical self. Over the years I’ve learned just how important this is to a life of fulfillment. We have bodies for a reason, and that reason is to live and fulfill our destinies and to create and fully experience our lives. If our bodies are out of shape, worn down, or not given the proper fuel, sleep, or fresh air, just like any mechanical system, they will break down. They will not be able to serve their purpose.

Lots of people struggle with this in their lives. I think one of the reasons is because the body is for living, and if you don’t know what you are living for, then you’re not truly, or naturally, motivated to live. That makes taking care of your body, your key tool for living, an uphill battle and struggle. When you are connected to Spirit and your passions (accomplished through the first 8 steps of the Major Good Mojo System), taking care of your body becomes so much easier and more natural. You are excited about life, you are inspired by life, you have divine energy flowing through you and you want to live. It makes a lot more sense that you want to exercise and move your body, eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of refreshing water, breath lots of fresh air, let in the beautiful sunlight, connect with plants and animals, and get plenty of rest and sleep.

One of my original teachers and inspirations was Dan Millman, author of the best selling book “Way of the Peaceful Warrior.” He is often asked, “How can I become a Peaceful Warrior? What is the most important thing I should be doing?” His reply is, “Get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy diet, and exercise your body.” We’re so busy looking for the magical aspects of living a fulfilling life that we forget these basic things and the huge difference they make.

One of the most powerful practices I have discovered is called Integral Transformative Practice, or ITP for short. This is a long-term practice for transformation developed by human potential pioneers Michael Murphy and George Leonard. Michael Murphy is one of the founders of the Esalen Institute (the west coast center for the human potential movement, founded 50 years ago, located in beautiful Big Sur, California) and George Leonard was President of The Esalen Institute for a time. Over the years these two saw pretty much everything when it came to programs and processes for realizing our human potential.

On January 4, 1992 they embarked on a research study they called “Integral Transformative Practice” with 36 people that met every Saturday morning for 11 months. In 1993 a second group met for 10 consecutive months. They decided they would forgo the spectacular “gee-whiz” experiences they knew they could facilitate, feeling they only gave the illusion of significant change and could even interfere with lasting, long-term transformation. Rather, they held a strong belief in the “transformative power and sacredness of life’s quiet virtues, including intellectual curiosity and integrity, a sense of the spiritual, unconditional love, healthy exercise, and a devotion to practice.” They “were in it for the long run.” “The practice would be integral in that it would involve and seek to integrate body, mind, heart, and soul. It would be transformative in that it would aim toward positive, long-term personal change.”

While the practice certainly has its physical/body-based components, including proper diet and regular exercise, it goes beyond this and recognizes the INTEGRAL nature of ALL OUR COMPONENTS. This means focus and development in one area affect all the others. So, for TRUE physical health and vitality, we must also develop our other parts: mind, heart, and soul. And vice-versa for all the other areas of our being.

The standard affirmation that every ITP Practitioner makes is “My entire being is balanced, vital and healthy.” It’s important to affirm your preferred state of balance, vitality, and health, and ingrain this into yourself through repetition as a conscious and unconscious truth.

So, Step 9, taking care of our physical body, is in the Major Good Mojo System as a very important part of our daily practice for fulfillment and experiencing Major Good Mojo in our lives. To experience the power this can provide in your life, I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Take a look in your kitchen cupboards and pantry and see what you see. Are they filled with processed foods, crackers, cookies, pasta, chips, cereal, white rice, tortillas, bread, candy, etc.? Modern dietary research is indicating the average American diet is too high in these starchy, sugary, processed carbs. Just decreasing your intake of these things will make a big difference in your health. Replace them with things like fresh vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

Take a look at your exercise habits. Is your habit NOT to exercise? Just notice. Modern research is showing that even a small amount of non-strenuous exercise (a short walk for example) can make a huge difference in health and well-being. It’s the consistency that matters most, not the intensity. See if there is an opportunity for you to increase the exercise you are getting in your life and notice the big difference it will make.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

This picture was taken at the Esalen Institute on California’s Big Sur Coast, as I gazed out over their “Great Lawn” to the Pacific Ocean.

One of my favorite quotes from human potential pioneer Michael Murphy, co-founder of the Esalen Institute, is “The question isn’t whether to engage a practice or not, because you’re already practicing something. The question is what are you practicing?” Michael is referring to our ability to consciously choose what we practice in our lives. Are you choosing to practice fear, worry, and concern? This choice, if you can call it that, is typically made unconsciously and by default. Or, are you choosing to practice joy, love, and generosity? This choice is usually made in a more conscious and intentional way.

In this blog we look at one of the most important ingredients for creating your life’s dreams and desires: having and establishing a consciously created daily personal practice. This is Step 8 of the Major Good Mojo System: “Stay connected to Spirit and Passion.”

Read on and enjoy!

How to Stay Connected to Spirit and Passion

Step 8 of the 10 Step Major Good Mojo System is “Stay connected to Spirit and Passion.” Spirit and your passions go hand in hand. As Chris and Janet Attwood, authors of “The Passion Test,” often say, “What you love and God’s will for you are one and the same.” As you deepen your connection to your Higher Self and become more and more adept at listening to and following its guidance, you’ll find you’re led to your passions. You’re led to move and take action on what it is you love. Step by step you’ll be fulfilling your passions, your dharma, and your purpose. This step, Step 8, is about putting in place a practice that keeps you connected to Spirit and your passions day in and day out.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of a long-term, daily practice. It’s inside of this long-term context that your true transformation and evolution will be most powerfully facilitated. In a long-term practice you have the time to experience what does and does not work for you, what is and is not efficient. Then you are able to tune and optimize.

Living and fulfilling your passions is the result of the path of practice, and it occurs and is engaged OVER TIME. Therefore you need to be on a path of regular practice that marks your way, guides you, supports you, and keeps your evolution on track. It’s like creating a groove in a piece of wood with a rock, or perhaps on a piece of glass with a diamond; the first time you practice you just scratch the surface of the wood or glass. But then each time you practice, over and over again, you deepen that groove, and subsequently those things you are working on. Your connection to Source and Heart Wisdom, seeing the good in everything, going with the flow, transcending limiting beliefs, embracing the contraction and low energy times in your life, and expressing and creating your authentic life purpose, all eventually become the natural path for divine energy flow in your life.

It’s also important to note that for your practice to have deep transformational value it must continue independent of what is going on in your life. If you allow life to rule you, you will soon stop your practice. However, if you engage your practice independent of the conditions in your life, you can persist. This means you choose to do your practice for no reason and you do it no matter what.

You can look at your life as your ultimate long-term practice. Over your years on this earth you discover what works and doesn’t work for you, making adjustments, learning and deepening your connection to Source, until you ultimately and literally do dissolve into the oneness. Your long-term practice can be a microcosm of this ultimate and real long-term practice of your life – becoming more free, present, powerful, and joy-filled – while still alive and animating your physical form.

And don’t be afraid to try out different practices. Do what works for you. I’ve engaged many different forms and my transformational practice has continually evolved. Know that something may work for you and be very powerful at one stage of your life, then you grow beyond it and are ready for something else. Don’t feel like you have to select something and stay with it forever. Be free to evolve and engage and create what works for you.

Establishing your own, customized, daily practice that keeps you connected to Spirit and your passions is a major benefit of the Major Good Mojo System. To experience the power this can provide in your life, I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Take a look in your life to identify any daily practices you have that keep you connected to Spirit and your passions. If you have some, great, keep doing those. If you don’t, spend a few minutes right now to think of one or two things you might do each day to get more connected. Perhaps you’ll choose to read some uplifting and inspiring words, or start a gratitude journal, or walk in nature, or even meditate. These are all simple things that, if engaged consciously each day, can become a powerful practice in and for your life.

Consciously choosing, creating, and engaging a long-term daily practice is one of the most powerful things you can do.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

It has been said that human beings are the only creatures privileged with the ability to refuse to bloom and open up. Why is that? Why are we privileged in this sense and why do we resist?

We are privileged because as conscious beings we have the power of choice. You can say yes to things or you can say no. You can say yes to Divine Guidance and Wisdom or you can resist and say no. It’s your choice. Consider this quote by Rumi: “Who says the eternal being does not exist? Who says the sun has gone out? Someone who climbs up on the roof, and closes his eyes tight, and says I don’t see anything.” You see, you CAN go to the rooftop and close your eyes tightly – it’s your choice. Buy why would you do that? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but a big one may be having been hurt by past experiences of trusting and opening up.

And why do we resist? Because we’ve been hurt in the past, or experienced other “flavors” of hurt like disappointment and failure. We close down and resist blooming and opening. This is a normal human mechanism for safety and protection that can of course be helpful. We’ve been hurt before and we don’t want it to happen again so we create strategies to prevent it. However, things are always changing, and these automatic mechanisms and strategies can become outdated over time and become more hurtful than helpful.

At some point the resistance to blooming can become so painful that we must choose to bloom! However, before reaching that point, we can help the blooming process by proactively looking at those things that are keeping us closed and resistant. We can look for the outdated strategies that are no longer helpful, and begin to dismantle them and their grip on our life. Doing this important work is the topic of this blog and is Step 7 of the Major Good Mojo System “Let Go of Old, Negative Stuff – Beliefs, Habits, and Patterns.” 

NOTE:  An easy and powerful tool that will help you address and clear negative beliefs and blocks is a short guided-meditation audio program called “Shift It.” Check it out here!

Read on and enjoy!

Open Up and Bloom! – It’s Your Choice

Step 7 of the Major Good Mojo System is “Let Go of Old, Negative Stuff – Beliefs, Habits, and Patterns.” As soon as someone steps onto their new path toward their new life, what they typically run into are all their old beliefs and habits that have been holding them back. It is vital to understand this and be able to address it. If you are not able to see, work with, release and transform old beliefs and habits that hold you in place, you will very quickly return to your old life and be even more resigned. You may say to yourself that you “tried” and it just didn’t work out. You will resist your blooming.

I have dealt with this a lot in my own life and, frankly, I still do. Often I would go to an amazing and inspiring seminar or workshop, come out ready to take on the world, only to find my old habits and ways of being creeping back in over the next few weeks. A month or more out from the workshop it was as if my brain was asking, “what workshop?”

Getting insights and inspiration is important, but is only the beginning. One of the down-side problems relating to weekend workshops and seminars is the lack of long-term support. There is often no process in place to work out the old ways of being that participants took with them into that workshop. There’s typically not even an acknowledgement that these things even exist!  I’m sure you’ve experienced this in your own life and know it to be true. Lots of people are offering fascinating and inspiring programs, but what is missing is the follow up. Old beliefs and habits have far more momentum and are far more ingrained than any new idea or inspiration. Without the follow up, most of the new ideas will die on the vine.

Learning how to let go of old negative beliefs, habits, and patterns is THE difference between success and failure. In my opinion this is why people became frustrated with the movie “The Secret.” They went out and asked for and believed they could have something. But what they were not told is that there is a huge part of them that does not believe they can have it, or should have it, or deserve it, or that it’s even possible. That’s what a friend of mine has called “The Dirty Little Secret.” The dirty little secret is that when you truly desire something and commit to having it, what comes up for you are all the beliefs or constructs that kept you from having it in the first place.  These must be released for true fulfillment to take place.

I know how hard it is to let go of negative beliefs and habits. That is why I created an audio program called “Shift It.” This is an easy and powerful tool specifically designed to address negative beliefs and blocks. Check it out here.

I have experienced and worked with MANY different tools and processes for releasing and transforming beliefs and habits we no longer prefer to uphold. The tools and processes that really work have these three things in common:

1) They make you stop and notice what is happening; you become a conscious witness to the FACTS about the situation(s),

 2) They invite you to embrace all aspects of your experience of the situation: physical, mental, emotional. You must embrace and allow the truth of your experience – the only way out is through. 

3) Once you’ve gone into the uncomfortable aspects and felt and allowed them, you then open up to new insights and possibilities for your life.

You can think of this generalized process as a bridge between two lands: your current, limited reality/experience, and your desired, expanded reality/experience. The bridge between these two lands is courageously built by embracing and allowing your truth and the full-body experience of the issue, situation, or challenge. Basically, you are consciously embracing all your “fears of what might happen.” Once you’ve done this, it is like magic! New insights and possibilities automatically begin arising.

When you engage the Major Good Mojo System I will walk you through several very powerful processes to open new doors in your life and embrace your blooming. And, even better, I will teach you these processes so you can do it for yourself for the rest of your life. To experience the power this can provide in your life, I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Where are you “tightly closing your eyes” and afraid of seeing the rising sun? Where are you resisting your blooming?  

Think of an uncomfortable or frustrating situation in your life right now. Write down one or two sentences that simply describe the facts of that situation. Then, write down how you feel about it; what are all the thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations you experience when you think about this situation? Do you feel angry, mad, tired, resigned, or perhaps sad? Where in your body do you feel these feelings? Point to and describe the physical feelings you are having. It might be tension or tightness, a “sick to the stomach” feeling, a numbness, or perhaps heat or hotness.

Allow yourself to notice and experience these feelings. Fully go into them with an open curiosity, with an attitude of “Wow, look how irritated I am” or “Wow, look how much tension I have around this situation.” Just notice and allow whatever is there for you as you think about the situation. This should only take two or three minutes, but take as much time as you need.

Then, once you have embraced and allowed your experience, begin opening up to new insights, ideas, or thoughts that may be arising. Just turn your attention toward “new ways of holding or moving through the situation.” You can even ask, “In what new ways might I hold this situation.” Then listen quietly for your intuition and insights to arise. In the beginning, a process like this is best engaged with a skilled facilitator. However, with some courage, compassion, and gentleness, you can certainly make some headway on your own.

Congratulations – you are choosing to bloom and are building bridges to new lands of Major Good Mojo!

Chichen Itza

We’ve all heard December 21, 2012 is the end of the Long Count Mayan calendar, the supposed end of time.  Of course, what this means, and what will actually happen, no one really knows.  It’s a great adventure for all of us! 

In the recent book “2012 and the End of the World” authors Matthew Restall and Amara Solari describe the way Western civilization’s expansion across the Atlantic brought apocalyptic ideas which flourished in North America.  And when a predicted apocalypse did not materialize, doomsday predictions never disappeared. They simply jumped from one supposed end-of-world date to the next.  “In recent decades,” say the authors, “no year has escaped prophecies of doom; regardless of when you are reading these words, you will find online a prediction that the end is months, if not days, away.”

One of the affirmations I say on regular basis is “I wisely choose to surround myself with energy that uplifts and expands me.”  I have a very low tolerance for people/ideas/and energy that tire and drain me – doomsday predictions being one of them!  It becomes a responsibility of mine (to myself) to either remove myself from the negatively draining situations/energy/people or actively engage to shape them toward a more positive and uplifting direction.  While the world we live in is certainly changing, and lots of things ARE coming to an end – my bet is that we will all be here to continue this journey into 2013 and well beyond.

Since we’ll all be here going forward, one of the most important and fulfilling things we can be doing is living our life’s purpose!  In this blog I will dispel for you seven myths of life purpose I have discovered through research, working with others, and through my own life experience.  These myths are part of Step 6 of the Major Good Mojo System which is “Design and Align Your Life Around Your Passions.”

Read on and enjoy!

The 7 Myths of Life Purpose

 Step 6 of my Major Good Mojo System is “Align and Design Your Life Around Your Passions.”  Once you’ve found your passions (Step 5), you’ve got to get your life around you pulling for them. This is about letting go of the old and bringing in the new, by saying no to old patterns and behaviors that are no longer part of the new you and saying YES to those things that are!

 We all have important work to do on this planet in the short lives that we live; it’s essential that we get our lives focused on our passions so we’re engaging them on a daily basis.  Mentally, spiritually, emotionally, physically, your environment, your relationships, how you spend your time each day and the choices you are making in each moment, how you spend and invest your money – all of these can be aligned with your greatest passion, your purpose and mission in life.  When this starts happening for you it feels soooo good, because you are finally on your path and doing what you are here to do. 

Now, I want to be clear this is not something that happens overnight; like most things, it’s a process, taken one step at a time.  However, done consciously, it can happen relatively quickly.  Moment by moment saying YES to your passions and what is on your path, and NO to what is not on your path, begins to get you aligned. Your life force energy flows into your dreams and you begin to manifest them.

To help you align your life with your purpose and passions I will dispel for you, right here, seven of the most commonly believed MYTHS that can hold you back from fully realizing who you are:

Myth #1:  “It’s too late for me” or “I’m too old and missed my chance.”

Reality:  It’s NEVER too late. If you’re still here, you are here for a reason (nothing exists without one) and you have time. Get on with it.

Myth #2:  “Leap and ‘my wings will grow’ on the way down” or “Leap and a net will appear.”

Reality:  Plan, plan, and plan, then leap and GROW YOUR WINGS on the way down. Do not expect them to grow by themselves – they won’t. With regards to the net, put your own net there, then leap. Again, don’t expect one to magically appear for you; better to put it there yourself.

Myth #3:  “Do what you love and the money will follow.”

Reality:  No it won’t. If that happens for some people, it’s out of pure luck, because this is NOT a law. Manifesting money, like manifesting anything else in life, requires focus and competence. To the extent you focus on manifesting money and build your competence in that arena, while at the same time doing what you love, it’s quite likely that money will flow from your efforts.

Myth #4:  “You can be anything you want.”

Reality:  No you can’t. Please avoid torturing yourself with this fallacy. While there is a relatively wide range of creative roles you can engage on your authentic life path, you have a specific purpose and a unique mission in life. The Universe has a plan for you – recognize and embrace it. That is your access to the life of fulfillment you so desire.

Myth #5:  “The purpose of life is material success” or “If one is successful in the material area of life, then they are successful in all areas of life.”

Reality:  The purpose of life is spiritual evolution, the constant expansion of your capabilities to be and manifest who you are. This is typically achieved by overcoming adversity and challenge, barriers both real and perceived. Manifesting material goods is only ONE aspect of the challenge. People who are good at that may or may not be evolving spiritually. In other words, we can expand our bank accounts without expanding who we are in other areas.

Myth #6:  “You need formal education, training, and credentials to make a difference.”

Reality:  You need competence to make a difference. Competence is developed and obtained in many ways, of which formal education and training is only one. In addition, when you are on the path of your authentic purpose, you do not need “others” to validate you. If you have truly done your work to become the open channel for life force you are meant to be, then the Universe is your credentials and authority, and others will instinctively know that. People will get that your power comes from the Universe, NOT from external credentials or a few letters after your name. God, Universal Intelligence, Great Spirit, Source  is the most powerful credential there is; align with God, give your life over to “him,” and others will intuitively know where you are coming from (authentic Life Force Energy will be flowing).

Myth #7:  “If anything is going to happen, it’s up to me to make it happen.”

Reality:  Non-local intelligence has infinite organizing power and can make things happen far beyond what our little physical selves may be able to think about, much less orchestrate. The Universe will make things happen IF the local intent/desire is aligned (authentic) with it, i.e. the clarity of the local channel will determine the efficiency of the non-local power. Your job is to maximize the clarity of the local channel (get your self, small “s,” out of the way) and make room for non-local intelligence and power to express through you.

How do you get your self, small “s” out of the way? Finding your passions and aligning your life with your personal well-spring of life force energy is a major objective and benefit of the Major Good Mojo System. To experience the power this can provide in your life, I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

A very simple way to identify what is aligned with your life purpose is to look at what gives you energy vs. what takes it from you. Those things that give you energy, that you look forward to and really enjoy, are most likely aligned with your life purpose. And those things that you dread and resist, are most likely not aligned with your life purpose.

Take out a piece of paper right now, draw a line down the middle and label the left column “Gives energy to me” and label the right column “Takes energy from me.”  Then write down all the things you do each day putting them in the column that best represents how you feel before, during, and/or after engaging that activity.  If you feel mostly positively energized, put it in the “Gives energy to me” column.  If you feel mostly negatively drained, put it in the “Takes energy from me” column. 

Once you’ve done this, look back over the columns and see if you notice any patterns – are there any common themes you can see regarding the things that give you energy?  Are there any common themes for the things that take energy from you?  Next choose one or more things on the list of items that give you energy and decide right now to do MORE of those things.  And then, choose one or more of the things on the list of items that take energy from you and decide to do LESS of those things.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to aligning with your life purpose and accessing Major Good Mojo!

Last summer I visited Armstrong Redwoods Natural Preserve in Northern California, near the Russian River.  I took this picture while walking on one of the nature trails. On their website it states, “The ancient coast redwood is the tallest living thing on our planet! These remarkable trees live to be 500-1,000 years old, grow to a diameter of 12-16 feet, and stand from 200-250 feet tall. Some trees survive to over 2,000 years and tower above 350 feet.” Being in the midst of these mighty trees is a powerful and awe-inspiring, yet very peaceful, experience. I highly recommend a visit.

I included this picture of the Great Redwoods with this particular ezine for a reason. Every one of these huge and awesome trees started out as a small seed, as something you could literally hold in your hand. Yet in that small seed was the entire blueprint for the manifestation and full-self-expression of these amazing living organisms. Just like these trees, you have your unique blueprint inside you too!

In this blog I will share with you seven principles of life purpose I have discovered through research, working with others, and through my own life experience. These principles are part of Step 5 of the Major Good Mojo System which is “Find Your Passions.” These principles will help you find and follow your passions, your own unique blueprint.

Read on and enjoy!

The 7 Principles of Life Purpose

Principle #1 : You have a purpose. Each and every one of us does. We are born with it. Others may have a similar purpose, but your methods of manifesting it and bringing it into the world for others are unique to you and you only.

Principle #2: It’s your job to find it. No one else can do this for you no matter how much you may wish that someone else will “pull out your gifts” or “discover you.” These are victim-based ways of being that avoid YOUR responsibility for YOUR life. Thank God that you, and only you, are in control of your life. That is a gift; it is divine design. So while at first this may seem like a burden, once you engage in discovering your purpose, you’ll be very glad it’s all up to you.

Principle #3: 90% + of the people out there don’t care or don’t want what you have to offer. BUT (and this is a HUGE but), about 10% do! This is a major hurdle for most people stepping out on their true life purpose – they share who they are with those closest to them (because who else would they share it with, right?) and those people are in the 90% who don’t need or want THAT particular gift being offered. They just don’t recognize the value.  The person sharing his vision begins to believe that since those folks close to him didn’t want it, no one else probably does, either. WRONG!

Here’s an example – a Gold Record sells 1 million copies. If we look just at the United States where approximately 300 million people live, that means that 299 million people DID NOT buy the record! Yet this is an amazingly successful album for a musician who is now well-known and quite well off. If they made the same assumption that most of us make: “Since the first few people I shared with did not like my stuff, then everyone is not going to like my stuff,” they would never have gotten off the ground. This is simply a matter of marketing and reaching YOUR people and has nothing to do with the quality or value of your offering. Unless you’ve talked with 100 people, I don’t want to hear how “nobody likes or needs my stuff.”

Principle #4: Your “customers” will not show up until you do. The 10% of people who want and need your stuff will not show up till YOU DO. You must show up first. You must stand up and say “This is who I am, this is what I have to offer, and if you want some, let’s talk.” Think about it, do you ever buy anything from someone, or from a company, without them first coming to you? Rarely, if ever does this happen. Usually, we see an advertisement, or someone makes a referral, or we find it on the internet. The point is, these people and products are already OUT THERE either finding you, or available for you to find. They have “shown up” and said “this is what I am, this is what I have to offer.” To employ Principle #4 that’s what you must do as well.

Principle #5: You will be happy, successful and satisfied with your life to the extent you embrace your authentic purpose and inner blueprint – AND – you will be unhappy, unfulfilled, dissatisfied and frustrated to the extent you do not. In fact, I would go so far as to say that we must create and manifest our life purpose or we will die. Ultimately we do die, and lives best lived have exhausted their life purpose and are ready for transition. However, those people resisting their life purpose will end up making themselves sick; they are literally “killing themselves” because they are not on purpose expressing and channeling Life Force in the way they themselves have already chosen.

As harsh as this may sound, it’s actually preferable to be dead, than alive and resisting your purpose. For if you are not here doing what you’ve come here to do, why hang around? To the extent you’ve buried and resisted your purpose, it does appear at some point to be easier to exit the game and start over. However, the fact you are reading this passage means you now know whatever you are experiencing IS PART OF YOUR LIFE PATH AND PURPOSE, and it’s your job to see just exactly how this all fits together and makes sense for you, in your life.

Principle #6: It’s not your job to question your purpose; it’s your job to engage and live it. Given the reality in which you find yourself when you discover your authentic purpose, it may seem ridiculous, unimportant, impossible, or perhaps “not for you.” But this is a destiny pre-chosen for you, most likely even by you, for your life, and it cannot be changed. And resistance, as we’ve seen with Principle #5, is futile. This would be like the Great Redwood saying “No, no, no, I want to be a tomato!” Ridiculous! The sooner you get on board and embrace your purpose, the happier you’ll be. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Principle #7: You must nurture your purpose. Your purpose will ebb and flow throughout the course of your life. At times it will be strong, at others weak, and even at times impossible to distinguish. But through it all is YOU, and your job is to continually nurture your purpose. Keep fanning the flames and know that it is your job to build the bridge from the unmanifest (metaphysical) to the manifest (physical), to make your vision a reality in the here and now. That is the game.

Finding Your Passions and aligning your life with your personal well-spring of life force energy is a major objective and benefit of the Major Good Mojo System. To experience the power this can provide in your life, I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching Program.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Take a deep breath, close your eyes, and ask yourself, your deepest, truest self “Am I living my authentic life purpose?” And listen to what comes up. Even write down what comes up. Most of us know if we are or are not truly living our life’s purpose. If you are, right on! Celebrate that you are. If you are not, spend a few moments exploring what your life purpose is – and if you say “I don’t know” you can say to yourself “Well, if I DID know, what would I say it is?” The truth is, we ALL know what we are here to do – the blueprint is inside – the challenge is having the COURAGE to ADMIT it and EMBRACE it!

It might help you to know it’s not a black and white thing- not an all-or-nothing proposition. Just start right where you are. I recommend to my clients they embrace their life purpose one step at a time, and just do the next, perhaps very small thing, that will begin moving their life in that direction. Ultimately, it’s the series of these steps taken in that authentic direction that adds up to the manifestation and realization of your own unique internal blueprint.

Find and follow your passions! It’s a major key to your Major Good Mojo!