The Real Mind

The move to Spain complete: a brief update on my situation and the future of this site

RagsToRich — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:28:05 +0000

Hello everyone,

You'll have to forgive me, it's been a rather long time since I've wrote an article on this website and as you might expect from the challenges that relocating to Spain offered, I've been rather busy.

Most recently I've been working on a new project which is online at www.profesorrich.com. For the moment this consists only in me giving private English classes to local Spanish speakers and also in writing an initially free downloadable e-book, in Spanish, about the methods which I have learnt, used, and adapted for language learning which allowed me to learn conversational Spanish from level absolute zero in about one year.

My plans for this website are somewhat hazy. I would like to get the site redesigned, updated with the latest drupal, and perhaps start updating it again. I am certainly just as commited to self-development as ever, more-so if anything. My walls are covered in post-its and notes, I have a white-board stained with plans and designs, and my desk is pilled up with note-pads and scraps of paper. Make no mistake, rags is still "on it". But I would struggle to find the time to compose high-quality articles on the subject right now, plus a lot of what I'm doing is quite experimental and I'd like to perfect it a little more before unleashing it upon the world ;). In the mean time I will continue to renew the hosting on this site essentially forever so the articles and texts on here will always be available to whoever wants to read them.

If you want to know more about the move to Spain and how that went there's a rather tounge in cheek video blog which me and a few friends put together documenting the whole thing. It's pretty raw and immature in parts, but if you can handle that sort of thing then I'd suggest you check it out and have a laugh: migratingtospain.blogspot.com.

Thanks for reading, feel free to leave questions in the comments and I promise I'll answer them as always - eventually. ;)

Rich

Where has Rags gone?

RagsToRich — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:59:14 +0000

Apologies for the lack of updates – but there may be some more of that to come. In the mean time I’d suggest anyone stopping a by check out some of the articles in the archive – there’s some good stuff on this site which I revisit myself from time to time.

I’m now 3 weeks off moving to Spain – that means I haven’t found much time to keep TRM updated. Also I have this ever-growing desire to completely redesign the site from scratch. That’s going to mean reading books on design, creating designs, and then implementing the whole thing and I’d estimate the work at about 100-200 hours. So it could be a couple of months before I find somewhere to fit that in.

In the mean time expect sporadic updates on my progress on the European continent and probably the odd bit of insight into further personal development.

A quick summary of the things going on in my life right now:

1) I’m trashing, giving away, or selling all my possessions to get down to a backpack, and a laptop.

2) I’m hammering the Spanish – doing one hour a day of drills plus flash card exercises at random times and meeting up with Spanish speakers in person whenever possible.

3) I’m indescribably excited. The fear hasn’t kicked it yet… but oh … I’m sure it will.

I’ll continue to monitor and contribute to comments made on the site.

Cheers,

Rich

Trialing the MotivAider

RagsToRich — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:36:54 +0000

Some time ago I was asked by Steve Lorinson to test out his product the MotivAider.

Actually what happened is Steve posted a comment on my blog name-dropping his device as a brilliant motivational aid. I challenged him to come up with the goods and I’d review it objectionably – and to his credit he came back to me almost instantly and sent me a sample device.

Over a month later and it’s still sitting on my shelf screaming “use me”. Preparing for the move to Spain is taking a vast amount of my time, hence I haven't had the opportunity.

The basic functionality of the device is to vibrate at set intervals – intended purely as a reminder for you about a commitment you’ve made to yourself. So for example if you decided to improve your posture you would write down a statement, something like “smart successful go-getters like me keep a good posture.”

Every time the device vibrates, at the set interval you have decided, you think of your personal statement, correct your posture, and soon enough a new habit is formed.

Now obviously this all sounds way too simple to true. I mean… isn’t this just the plus version of tying a piece of string around your finger?

Not according to Steve; and he’s confident enough to challenge me to review his device knowing that I’m extremely experienced in habitual change and I’m going to be completely objective.

Problem and goal

Since I have few problems with habits like “correcting posture”, I’m going to go for something a little more challenging. I’m going to see if I can improve my general positivity.

I’m a pretty positive person anyway these days, but I’m not quite where I’d like to be with it and that next jump has eluded me somewhat in the past.

Action

I’m going to set myself a little exercise to run through every time the device goes off. The exercise will be to think of up to three of the most positive things about the current moment and up to three of the most positive things which could result from whatever I’m currently doing. I’m going to keep this trial going for at least a month, but probably several months, and I’ll report back on it at certain intervals.

Personal message

The statement I’m going to use is a quote from the colourful French artist Henri Matisse – “there are always flowers for those who want to see them.”

I appreciate that this kind of fundamental personal change is at the more advanced spectrum of the kind of behaviour which the MotivAider is claimed to be able to assist with, but isn’t this exactly the kinds of thing which we really need help changing?

The operating manual for the device states –

Step 1: Select and define a particular gap that you'd like to narrow. (We refer to the gap that a project is designed to narrow as the problem.)

That would be my personal positivity; in terms of both positive perception and positive outlook. I’d extent it to positive reflection too, but let’s not get too complicated just yet.

Step 2: Express the problem in the form of a realistic goal.

My goal is to become significantly more positive. Not just externally in terms of what I express, but crucially I want to become more positive on the inside. I think I’m pretty good at the positivity I express – regardless of my own thoughts. But what I’m looking to create is a naturally brighter inside.

That’s a difficult thing to measure and I’ve said before that it’s preferable when possible to write goals in the form of definite measurable statements. As in – my goal is to be able to do 50 push-ups in two minutes. That’s a definite goal which at any point you can accurately measure if it’s achieved or not.

Unfortunately in this situation we don’t have that liberty. That’s ok… without wanting to blow my own horn too much – over the years of meditating and self-improvement I’ve honed a pretty good awareness of my own emotional and internal state and I think I will quite accurately be able to determine if any significant habitual change takes place from this project.

Step 3: Decide on a particular action you can take.

That would be my above exercise.

Alrighty! So the trial begins tomorrow.

I’m excited.

You can read more about this device here.

Being positive, remaining upbeat and using optimism: a full discourse on positivity

RagsToRich — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:51:51 +0000

What actually is real positivity? How can it be useful? What are the initial dangers of trying to use positivity and why do some people warn against “sugar-coating” everything?

The truth is being a positive person is far more complex than it may look to be at first glance. The dogmatic advice to just “be positive” is rarely useful for more than a brief reminder or for a short boost. It isn’t just a case of seeing the cup half-full instead of half-empty.

Positivity has a number of sensations and emotions attached to it. It is deeper than just a rephrasing – this is why it’s unreasonable to expect to go from an energy vampire to positive and upbeat over-night. There’s a kind of enjoyable, upbeat, bright and unrelenting energy which flows with positivity.

The basics

Firstly there should be no doubt in your mind that positive is the way to be. If you have any intellectual reservations about becoming positive you need to just look at the hard cold facts of life and make the observations for yourself. Successful people are the positive ones – end of story. The people who embrace challenge and see opportunity.

In four years I have changed and changed and changed and one thing which has forever improved is my positivity. Not just how I see things, but a deeper and more integral change than that. Changes in my moods, my behaviours, my social habits, my foresight, my reflection, the way I think of myself etc.

Going from someone who was used to complaining and criticizing everything around him to where I am now I don’t believe could have taken any less time. Positivity is not just a quick reframe or a mind-set – it’s a whole set of deep changes which take place over a long period of time. But it’s something that with awareness and recognition everyone can benefit from.

All other things being equal – the more positive of two people is likely to be the one who succeeds.

What is sugar-coating?

The most common objection against positivity is pointing out how useless it is to sugar-coat the truth. I agree with this – completely.

When the shit has hit the fan I want someone to tell me that the shit has hit the fan. I don’t want to hear that everything’s running just fine if the shit has hit the fan.

If your car doesn’t start – just ignoring that it’s broken is not being positive, it’s being stupid. The positive mindset would be to think – “well it’s not so bad, I can find a solution to this.”

So positivity is not about making things look good – instead it is about looking for solutions, being most effective, being productive, measuring past events realistically and taking away the lessons you can learn from things.

Positivity is seeing everything in a productive manner, even obstacles. Positivity is acceptance of how things are; it is finding the drive to look for creative and cool ways to get over problems.

Negativity is seeing things as insurmountable. Negativity is surrender in the face of adversity.

The emotions and moods associated with positivity

Playfulness

Positive people are frequently playful. Playfulness breeds a more productive environment. The key to being serious is relevance and perspective. You want to see the bigger picture. In many situations a light-hearted approach is more fun, more amiable, and more sustainable. The key is combining this with the below moods too.

Gusto/gumption/drive

As a positive person your persistence must be immeasurable. Gumption is the ability to dive into a complex and pain-in-the-ass type of program with all guns blazing. It is the willingness to ignore the negative feelings you may have towards something, and to get stuck in anyway.

Then afterwards, don’t feel the need to complain about your work-load or to boast about how difficult the problem was. Instead just take it on the chin with a grin and move on. That’s real gusto.

Optimism

The glass is half full, and next week it’s going to be full. Have rampant optimism again and again. Every opportunity which comes along you see the full potential of how it could open up for you if every single thing went perfect. Every person you meet is not just another average Joe who you’re going to exchange a little tit for tat with, instead you see their potential, you wonder optimistically about the amazing skills this person could have. Inquire – find out – search for these things which you positively foresee in your mind.

Yeah you’ll be due a few disappoints here and there – in-fact, more than just a few. But the trick is – being insanely relentless with your optimism. No matter how many opportunities disappoint you completely, look to the next as if it’s your golden ticket to ultra-success.

Finding the fun in challenge

Think about some improvement challenge which you’ve struggled with consistently in your life.

Now think, why is it that challenging computer games (board games, puzzles, whatever) are so addictive and fun?

Computer games are not fun because they are easy. The best ones are challenging and fun.

I know this analogy might be wack for some people, but just substitute it for something similiar. It works so I'm stciking with it.

What’s the difference here, what’s going on exactly? In what way are you looking at your own life differently than you would look at your characters life in a game?

Just the simple realisation that you should be LOOKING FOR THE FUN in all challenge should be enough to get on the right path with this. The next time something is challenging – look for the fun. It might not even be directly in the challenge, but around it. It might be in the build up, or in the reward, or in the sense of fulfilment.

One good way of finding fun in challenging is in measuring and comparing your performance via self-kept stats. For example back when I was first learning guitar I used to time how quickly I could perform the incessantly tedious mechanical finger exercises and race my pervious times daily.

Look for it everywhere and begin to make your life into a fun challenging computer game.

The inexhaustible energy of the human spirit

RagsToRich — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:11:07 +0000

At the heart of everyone is a pure awareness which is infinite in resources and experience. When a task seems completely impossible, and then that sense of impossibility is dropped and from somewhere arises a great sense of drive, of hope, and of optimism, it is from this source central to us all that it comes.

I know this is a little more spiritual than the things I usually talk about but I’ve recently been reading a lot of writings by Lester Levenson and James Allen and I’ve been inspired to see things more this way.

I have used the words “human spirit”. This is a deliberate inaccuracy – I thought it sounded good. In reality this energy comes from a source beyond terms like this – infinite awareness at the centre of our reality. I don’t claim to have recognised the experience of this awareness, such a thing is called enlightenment. But I completely believe it is there and it is from this source that an unlimited supply of energy flows.

You don’t need to be awakened to access this – everyone can and does access it on a regular basis. Every thing you do, from overcoming fear to try something new, to the energy required to brush your teeth, it all comes from this source. The source is you at your very core – without limitations. Limitations are a mirage created by the mind.

To you and me this does not mean they should be underestimated, or that we will find them easy to over-come. It just means that we should know that there is no thing which cannot be achieved and no thing which stands impossibly in your way.

Sometimes we have a sense that something is very difficult and taxing, or that the body is exhausted; these reactions are something which arise in the mind. If they are dropped and replaced with a surge of motivation, and inspiration then the feeling is now one of energetic optimism. Even if the body is truly tired, for the moment those sensations may not even be present within awareness which a great hope and drive instead fills the spirit.

In hindsight the illusions of the mind are clear and the unlimited power of the human spirit, but just because we can all relate to this experience does not mean that it’s necessarily easy to realise it the next time. It takes something special to realise this power inside yourself in any difficult moment.

Going forward towards new challenges, with new ups, and new downs, and knowing that anything is possible, and being vigilant and prepared to draw upon those resources when times seem tough we will be best able to reach the heights which we aim towards.

Driving back to your desired focus – one of the purest forms of action

Distraction, challenge, and procrastination can come upon any of us at any time – and they will on a daily basis. One of the purest actions you can ever take is to act not on doing what “feels comfortable” or “feels easy”, but to act instead in line with your goals against the flow of opposition.

I am talking about things such as refocusing on a task when something else tries to distract you. Choosing to do the work you set aside now, rather than laze away 20 minutes on you-tube.

These actions may not seem appealing – but if they are important to your long term success then forcing yourself to perform them to a high quality is not only a pure action of now, but also it sets a positive precedent for the future. The precedent is that you will not listen to discouragement when you know there is something you have to do – it is that you will do what you consciously want to regardless of your feelings about it, regardless of the challenges which may arise.

By consistently refocusing and persisting on the right-path you are creating the habits which will ensure positive changes in your life. This is the same process as was discussed here. If you only do what is comfortable then you will remain exactly where you are now – the things which are comfortable to you are the familiar habits and associations which have got you to exactly the point you are currently at and which the body will encourage you to choose once again.

Only by choosing the right action – by moving against the flow of what is familiar and by recommitting and refocusing over and over again will you begin to see positive changes in your life. Once you have MADE the decision, instantly in that moment the feeling-related difficulty dissolves – that is the power at the centre of consciousness. It may return again… but again when you make the right decision to commit to what meets with your long-term goals the difficulty will dissolve again. Each time you repeat this choice it gets easier and easier and the rewards increase.