Two Perspectives

Two Perspectives on Journaling as a Tool for Transformation

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Journaling is one of the best tools for personal transformation. Let us take a look at how to do journaling for personal growth and transformation purposes. Primarily it can be divided into three categories, viz.

• Tool for self-reflection
• Tool for release of anger
• Journaling as a filter

Tool for self-reflection

Journaling is primarily a tool for self-reflection. Have you ever reflected upon what are your three core values? Once we decide our three core values, we can do a self-reflection every week, “Am I living according to my values? What are the areas I need to improve? What mistakes did I make in these areas?” as part of the journaling process. You can monitor your own growth by reading what you wrote three months back or a year back and compare your current state.

Tool for release of anger

When you are feeling very angry-you have two options, viz.

• Write it out and then tear the pages
• Write it and keep it to monitor your own progress.

What is written in extreme anger should be destroyed as it can be dangerous if it reaches the wrong person by mistake.

Journaling as a filter

Creative people often have phases of creativity blasts and phases of dryness (of ideas). When you are inspired and are flooded with ideas, the journal becomes your filter too. Write everything in the journal before posting on social media. Double check whether it is worth posting and aligned with your three core values (from focus/personal branding perspective). Double check the errors, if you are developing yourself as a professional author or blogger.

Sometimes when you read your own stuff after six months or a year, you feel like laughing at your stupidities or your raw language at that point of time. So journaling can be a source of entertainment too at times.

The trouble of today is the joke of tomorrow.

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant & Deepest Passion Coach. He is based in New Delhi, India and specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is, “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Brand”

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

For the YouTube video, please click here:    Journaling

If you prefer a quick read, please continue below.

Benefits:

• Clarity
• Understanding
• Inner Peace
• Healing
• Increased Self-Esteem
• Joy
• Freedom
  

What You Need:

• Pen or pencil
• Journal or pad of paper
• One hour of uninterrupted time
• Quiet surroundings
• An open mind

Guidelines:

• Don’t censor your thoughts! (I can’t stress this enough.)
• Notice your thoughts.
• Allow your thoughts to flow wherever they want to go.
• Write everything down on your paper
• Just watch what comes through.

Personal Safety:

• What you write is for your eyes alone.
• Feel free to shred what you’ve written at any time.

Don’t be Surprised if:

• You don’t know what to write about. (Just sit in your “not knowing” until thoughts show up.)
• Unexpected emotions suddenly surface. (If these appear, just notice them, and when you are ready, return to your journaling. You may want to use them as a starting point for a new thread of writing.)

Allow Yourself to:

• Misspell words
• Use the wrong word
• Use wrong grammar
• Be judgmental
• Pour out your rage
• Look at your fear
• Grieve

My personal experience with journaling is that I start out struggling with a problem, meander along twisting, winding paths, jump to a seemingly unrelated train of thought that just won’t leave me alone, and end up with new insights and new ideas for moving forward.

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see wordsculptures.com, janetsmithwarfield.com, and wordsculpturespublishing.com.

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Two Perspectives on Optimism, Pessimism, and Pragmatism

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Frederick Langbridge believed so, but I think he forgot people like me. I believe you should neither see the mud nor the stars, but rather see what is in the front. Optimism may make us unrealistic; pessimism may depress us (and make us lonely also), so pragmatism is the best policy.

But Optimism Sounds Better

People love optimistic company (and not pragmatic) and (on a lighter note) the most optimistic people end up becoming the best motivational speakers. Nobody wants pessimistic company unless you want to crib and share your pessimism at times. Also, it is easier to be a leader when you are optimistic because people have more faith in your success. Everyone is struggling in the world in some way and we all are looking for someone to motivate and inspire us all the time, more so from our leaders.

Best Case Scenario and Worst Case

Even organizations create two scenarios – best case scenario and worst case scenario. I believe neither the best happens in reality, nor the worst. What usually happens is the average. Or sometimes the best happens, sometimes the worst, and ends up on the whole with the average.

Which is Best?

Who gets the optimum in life, the optimistic, the pessimistic or the pragmatic? Should you be pragmatic for yourself and optimistic sounding with people? Should you expect the best and be prepared for the worst? Should you listen to the eternal optimist-soul or eternal pessimist-mind? Tough questions indeed and the answer is different for each person at a different point of time.

The mind is busy in feasibility studies; the soul is busy in possibility studies. The soul is divinely optimistic, the mind is animally pessimistic. You must move from the mind to the soul, which is a long journey. When you have mastered the law of attraction (or have become fully enlightened and under the influence of the soul), you can be optimistic all the time. Till then, it would be good to be pragmatic.

I can read your mind. You are wondering. “So what do you personally do?”

I ask both soul and mind, and then divide it by two.

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Dr Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant & Deepest Passion Coach. He is based in New Delhi, India and specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is, “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Brand”

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

Here’s the proverbial half full – half empty glass. Which way do you see it? How does your choice affect your emotions? How does it affect your well-being?

When we see the glass as half empty, we see possibilities that have not yet manifested. The choir director working with a newly-formed chorus sees the possibility of a beautiful, harmonious, balanced chorale, energizing and magnetizing its audience into a larger human symphony. Michelangelo saw a block of marble and envisioned David. Jesus, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Plato, Socrates, and many others saw human suffering and dysfunction and envisioned an all-inclusive humanity connecting needs and resources and co-creating a dynamic, peaceful, respectful, accountable, functional society.

And yet, when we see the glass as half full, aren’t we envisioning the same things? Isn’t the space at the top of the glass simply a metaphor for our unmanifested dreams, hopes, and visions for a better life and world?

How do we manifest these visions together, in harmony? Or don’t we? Do we choose instead to blow ourselves up?

It is All Very Simple

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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Additional Resources:

Two Perspectives on The Power of Intention

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

As I had completed a little more than one year of my passionate journey into Personal Branding Consulting, I felt the need for an annual reflection. I decided to do the introspection and reflection in the Himalayas – probably the best place in the world for contemplative practices.

The questions which were hanging in my mind were related to my intentions and the purity, clarity and parity of my intentions. (I call it the PCP of intentions)

a)  Purity – Are my intentions pure and in alignment with the universe? Are they surrounded with positive energy? Am I doing something which is blocking the manifestation of my intentions?

b)  Clarity – Are my intentions clear? What do I want in life? Why do I want it? How do I expect to get it? Does the order of my prayers match the order of my intentions (priorities)? What future course of action is required to convert my intentions into reality?

c)  Parity – I believe in Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism which says, “Earthly Desires lead to Enlightenment” It means I can ask God/Universe what I want and once my desires are satisfied, I shall be ready for enlightenment. So my daily prayers include my personal wishes. Now the question arises, “Do my prayers match (are at par) with my intentions?”

(Even from the sub-conscious mind perspective, we need to exactly visualize what we want in life and then a complete commitment to our goal creates serendipity.)

The gratitude to Universe started flowing automatically due to the natural beauty and calm of Himalayas. Thus I began my journey of self-reflection with gratitude prayers. I posted on Facebook, “In the heights of the mountains, I found the heights of my consciousness. In the depths of the valleys, I felt the depth of divine love.” Never in my life, have I felt so inspired.

Excellent ideas began to flow. I wrote probably the most beautiful (and concise) sentence I have written in my life, “If he could, he would. So don’t judge and say, he should.” The mind loves to frown and the soul loves to smile. In touch with my soul, I was all smiles. I was like a spring, “Ego is like a stubborn mountain, sometimes an emotional rock. Soul is like a free flowing spring dancing towards the ocean.”

RW Emerson said, “Once you make a decision, the Universe conspires to make it happen.” The decision Intention) must be accompanied by a complete commitment. If our desires continue to change, how can we blame God for not meeting our desires? Poor guy (God) must be so confused because we keep changing what we want and are doubtful about whether we really want it. Sometimes we are praying for the means while we want something else (ends).

Over a period of next seven days, I meditated and reflected upon these questions. The chit-chat between mind and soul began. There is a saying, “When we speak, God listens, when we become silent, God speaks (to us)”

Had I finally understood “The Secret”? I created a list of desires (intentions) which had purity, clarity and parity.

And when I reached absolute silence, God began to speak.

(And I came back with more answers than the questions I had left with.:-))

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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Enlarge as a Human Being, Excel as a Social Media Being and Evolve as a Personal Brand”

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

As we approached Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, 90 miles southwest of London, I could suddenly feel the energy shift. Before us lay miles and miles of open grasslands, gently rolling hills, burial mounds, and peaceful mists. It was as if I had been transported back in time to a space held sacred by a Neolithic culture.

We had passed the restrictive energy of the military complexes surrounding Salisbury Plain. Now, I was beginning to feel the sanctity of the natural environment. Despite a parking lot crowded with tourists, I did not want to take pictures. I wanted to hold the awe of a mystery I couldn’t explain. I wanted to experience amazement over the dedication of those unknown human beings, thousands of years ago, who hauled those massive sarsens, blue stones, and lintels from miles away, then found a way to set them upright, raise the lintels to the top of the sarsens, and chisel them so they were stable and all fitted seamlessly together. I had clearly set my intention not to get sucked into the chaotic tourist chatter in the parking lot.

What I experienced was a mystery my mind could not understand. What I received was peace, awe, amazement, gratitude, connection, unity, wholeness, and sanctity. Had I shifted my intention to taking pictures of a physical place, I would have lost an amazing energetic healing experience. I would have mentally divided the experience into a subject/object relationship with “me” taking pictures of “Stonehenge”.

On the way back, I shifted my intention. This time, I wanted the pictures as a memento of a wonderful experience. I mentally split the energetic field into myself as photographer and Stonehenge as object. The experience was totally different. I had my mementos.

Intention is everything! It sets the direction of each and every moment of our lives, focuses our attention and actions, and allows us to manifest whatever we desire.

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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Two Perspectives on Transformational Leadership

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Become a leader who transforms by being a thought leader.

I am not going to talk about what is transformational leadership. I am not going to impose my views. I will not even tell you how to become a transformational leader. Now you must be thinking, “Then what the hell are you going to do?”

I had once posted on Facebook, “Your secret is in your soul, my secret is in my soul and still they tell you to read ‘The Secret’” Even Lord Buddha said, “Everyone must find his own way to salvation.” Why should we have any one definition of transformational leadership? Why not ask your soul and come up with your own definition? We all can be transformational leaders in our own ways, whether we transform our village, our workplace, our family or even one friend. When we connect to our deepest self, and become authentic in expressing our true self, we will automatically become a leader who transforms and a thought leader who leads by example.

Albert Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Are you a fish who is trying to climb the tree? Is your organization making you a square peg (unfit) in a round hole?

Start the journey of finding your genius. When you find your genius, you will become a leader who transforms by being a thought leader. I will just tell you one possible approach or a road map to thought leadership. You have to undertake your own journey, I can only support you, inspire you and give a suggested road map which you can modify or even use to get an idea to develop your own road map.

Here is my three step approach to thought leadership:-

Step 1

Walk the Walk

Connect with your deepest self through contemplative practice, expressing yourself through arts or appreciating art in a way that it becomes your muse or source of inspiration.

Develop your own concept of thought leadership. Stay in the company of thought leaders and find inspiration. Respect your genius and it will make you a thought leader. I remember another quote of Einstein, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.” Honour your gift to bring out your hidden greatness. Let the silent-intuitive mind take over and make you a thought leader in your own right. Take the action to develop models, philosophy, equations, and diagrams and so on which can depict your ideas.

Step 2

Talk the Talk

Communicate your authentic core to the people around. Share your thought leadership with people who are going to either support you or criticize you constructively (to help you refine your concept further).

Help the people understand your thought leadership model. Unless you help them gain in-depth understanding of your ideas, they will have a superficial understanding only. Even God had to communicate his message through epics, religious books and inspired messages to her channels. Never claim to be a thought leader and let the people validate your thought leadership.

Step 3

Walk the Talk

You are in the implementation phase now. Fine tune whenever you feel like it. Apply the thought leadership to your own life or to the lives of people/organisations you know. Demonstrate results. Counter the opposition with conviction and determination.

“Easier said than done” they say. Contemplation is fine to connect with the deepest self but at the end of the day life is action, not contemplation. Start the spark and fuel the fire. I once jokingly told a client, “Coins make noise and notes don’t. As you grow from 1 rupee coin to 10 rupee coin to a 1,000 rupees note, make less and less noise.” So become humbler by the day. I always tell my clients, “Larger the stature, Briefer the profile”

You have walked enough, you have talked enough, and the time has come to ‘Walk the Talk’. Leave your own footprint of transformation through your ‘Thought Leadership’.

One day, leadership has to die because everyone will become capable enough to lead himself/herself (by mastering the mind and by connecting to the soul.). One day everyone will be a thought leader. You want to be an innovator or a laggard. The life is yours, the choice is yours.

http://suewaters.wikispaces.com/

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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Take Charge of your Life and your Brand” He writes a Blog, “The Joys of Teaching”
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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

“The next Buddha might not be an individual. It might be a group” Thich Nhat Hanh

A MetaHub of a dozen brilliant, talented, aware women have self-organized out of Barbara Marx Hubbard’s Agents of Conscious Evolution Mentors, http://bit.ly/KzuGiC, to dialog about any subject any of them wants to discuss. The topics are not about hair styles or the latest fashions. They are about how to heal ourselves, how to heal our planet, and how to co-create harmony, resonance, and alignment with one another. Each speaks into the circle from her heart. Each listens deeply to the others’ words. New ears and perspectives hear the information offered into the circle. New speakers add their own nuances, perspectives, and understandings. Ultimately, the dialog carries everyone to a clearer and more expanded understanding of the topic being discussed. Disparate viewpoints coalesce into alignment and resonance. Conflicts dissipate as new information enters the circle. Everyone comes together to solve problems.

Is this a new style of leadership? If so, what do we call it? Field leadership? Essence Leadership? Circle Leadership? Transformational leadership? Are we co-creating the Noosphere which Teihard de Chardin wrote about so many years ago, simply by exchanging information through deep, heartfelt, mutually-respective dialog?

Talking circles are not new. Indigenous people in North America have used them for millennia. Circles of stones or wood can be found all over Europe, some dating back 5,000 years or more. Circles bring people together, co-creating positive transformation for all. As Living Justice Press states:

Circles are far more than a technique; they are a way of life. Circles embody a philosophy, principles, and values that apply whether people are sitting in Circle or not. http://bit.ly/L3SE8r

Characteristics of Transformational Leadership:

1. All inclusive – everyone belongs and has the right to speak
2. Everyone is equal
3. Those who are not speaking are listening deeply
4. Can be used in any setting with any topic
5. Draws on our best values
6. Solutions evolve organically
7. Endlessly adaptable and co-creative
8. Helps participants respond from their best selves because they are being heard rather than suppressed.
9. Builds community
10. Generates mutual understanding and respect
11. Honors all voices equally
12. Decisions are made by consensus
13. Cultivates mutual support
14. Honors the gifts, knowledge, talent and experiences each participant brings.

There are many modern circle groups engaged in this kind of transformational community building and leadership. Two I can recommend are Vistar Circles, http://www.vistarfoundation.org/ and Circle Connections, http://circleconnections.com/. They continue to be used because they bring to every participant such a wonderful sense of inclusiveness and community building. When a circle is formally over, the participants rarely want to leave the safe, free-flowing space they have created together.

Perhaps Thich Nhat Hanh was right. The next Buddha is all of us co-creating together in peace and harmony.

Additional Resources

1. First Nations Pedagogy Online (Circle Talks) – http://bit.ly/KxrgSa
2. Living Justice Press – http://bit.ly/MueLo4

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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Two Perspectives on Mind Mapping

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Mind Mapping as a Process

What is a Mind Map?

A mind map is a graphical and simple way to represent ideas and concepts. It helps in structuring information, and as a result helps in better analysis, comprehension, synthesis, recall and idea generation.

Why Should I Mind Map?

Our brain consists of neurons and each neuron is connected to several other neurons in a web kind of structure. In a mind map also, information is structured in a non-linear way that resembles how our brain actually works. Since it is an analytical as well as artistic activity, it engages the brain in a more useful way (utilizing both left and right parts of the brain) and due to its artistic and colourful nature it is fun.

Benefits of Mind Maps

1. Taking notes in a class or meeting
2. Brainstorming and creative problem solving
3. Making plans
4. Presenting information
5. Synthesizing information
6. Time management
7. Decision making
8. Summarizing a book, article or blog post

How to Make a Mind Map

I learned mind-mapping from Ms. SadaNam Kaur, a Life Coach based in Spain. (I am doing a self leadership course which has mind mapping as part of the creativity module).

The following points need to be kept in mind while making a mind map:

• Start the mind map in the centre of page and use the page in landscape format.
• Core topic will be in the centre and sub-topics will be in periphery.
• Topic labels should be single word as far as possible and when possible use a picture.
• The lines radiating from the centre will be thick and will become thinner as they move into the periphery (groups/branches).
• Different colours are used to make it artistic and attractive.
• Pictures are also used to make it attractive.
• It is not linear but radiant/web like
• There are no sentences, so words are used in a way which suggest sentences e.g. in the mind map below under drawing there are 3 points viz words, 1000 and picture which means a picture says a thousand words.
• As lines become thinner as they radiate towards the periphery, the word (font) also becomes smaller signifying the importance of those words in the mind map.
• The lines should be connected starting from the central image/word.

A Final Word

According to Wilkipedia, a British psychology author is considered the inventor of modern mind-mapping. Buzan argues that while “traditional” outlines force readers to scan left to right and top to bottom, readers actually tend to scan the entire page in a non-linear fashion. Buzan also uses popular assumptions about the cerebral hemispheres in order to promote the exclusive use of mind mapping over other forms of note making. The mind map continues to be used in various forms, and for various applications including learning and education (where it is taught as “mind webs”, or “webbing”), planning, and in engineering diagramming.

YouTube video: What is Mind Mapping?
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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Take Charge of your Life and your Brand” He writes a Blog, “The Joys of Teaching”
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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

Mind Mapping for Clarity

Mind mapping is a process that weaves together related thoughts and ideas to bring clarity and meaning into your life. You can do it in the privacy of your own home.

Set aside a time when you won’t be interrupted. Get yourself a pen and a pad of paper and write down whatever thoughts flow through your mind. If you’re struggling with a problem, begin with that. If there’s something you want to bring into your life, begin with that. Do not censor your thoughts. If you censor your thoughts, you’ll stay stuck in exactly the same thought patterns that created the problem in the first place or prevented you from moving toward what you want to do with your life.

Remind yourself that no one except you has to see what you write. The thoughts that flow through your mind and onto your paper are for your eyes alone unless you choose to share them. When you’re finished writing, you can burn or shred the paper if you want.

Approach your writing with a sense of exploration and discovery. Don’t judge or condemn what comes out. Just step back and notice it. Mmmmmmmmmm! That’s interesting. I had no idea that thought was in my head. What message is it bringing me? What can I learn? Is it telling me something about an action step that would move me toward solving my problem or giving me information about what I want to bring into my life? What meaning is it bringing? Is it adding a new piece to the puzzle I’m trying to solve?

When you notice resistance to one of the thoughts flowing through your mind, ask yourself why. Is it a thought that you were told was evil? Does it make you feel guilty? Does it bring up anger or fear? Just notice, then choose to appreciate it for the clarity it has brought you or tuck it back down into the recesses of your mind. This may simply not be the right time to hear the message the thought is bringing.

As you allow your thoughts to spill out onto the paper, notice if you experience sudden clarity that you didn’t have before. Notice if you feel an energetic shift in your body. Which thoughts make you feel good? Which thoughts make you feel bad?  Which keep returning over and over? The thoughts that keep returning over and over are thoughts that are desperately trying to bring you a message. What are they telling you about what you need to change in your life?

Notice if your thoughts are about other people and how they should change. Notice if your thoughts are about things that happened in the past or things that may happen in the future. When you focus on what other people should think, say, or do or when you focus on the past or future, you give away your present personal power.

Take your power back by keeping your mind in the present moment, trusting it, and trusting the process that is always there to support you when you are open to receiving and appreciating that support. You can call this process “God,” “Higher Power,” “Universal Energy,” or any other name you want to give it. It wants you to be joyful, prosperous, and powerful. You simply need to be willing to receive what it has to offer.

The alignment you experience brings you coherence, balance, clarity, courage, understanding, integrity, and peace. You end up trusting your gut, trusting your thoughts, trusting your intuition, and trusting your life. Your power comes from working with your own emotions, actions, thoughts, and energetic system, right here, right now, in each and every moment. By doing this, you create your own sacred space, an internal alignment with your own being and integrity. This is the only place where you are always safe.

For more information, here’s a good YouTube video: Using Mind Mapping to Gain Clarity

________________________________________________________________________________________Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. To learn more, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com

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Two Perspectives on The Subconscious – Tapping Its Enormous Power

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Dr. Janet Smith Warfield, Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Before we learn to tap the enormous power of the sub-conscious, we need to first understand what is the difference between conscious and sub-conscious mind.

Conscious Mind

Many of us wonder if everyone is appreciative of the sub-conscious mind and critical of conscious mind, why did God create the conscious mind in the first place. Is the conscious mind obsolete?

Conscious mind is needed by human beings but it should be treated like a servant. Since most of the population does not know how to activate and utilize the enormous power of sub-conscious, the conscious mind runs the show. No wonder Albert Einstein said, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

Sri Aurobindo, the Indian sage, said that just as the monkey’s tail disappeared during the evolution of the human being because it was no longer required, similarly the conscious mind will disappear as human beings evolve.

Sub-conscious Mind

Subconscious mind gives us wisdom and intuition and is activated mainly by three activities viz. deep relaxation, meditation and mental imagery/visualization. It also tends to get active during deep sleep (no wonder many people say sleep over your problem and you will wake up with the answer) but deep sleep is out of our control (we often forget the dreams) and whether we will have sound/deep sleep or not is often beyond the control of an average person.

Unconscious Mind

There is a difference of opinion between scientists here. Some believe mind only has two parts conscious and unconscious (call it sub-conscious if you wish) while others believe that mind has three parts viz. conscious, sub-conscious and unconscious. I believe in the latter school of thought and I believe conscious is often negative, sub-conscious is generally wise/positive and unconscious has all the repressed memories (both positive and negative). So what comes out during past regression therapy and hypnotherapy are the memories stored in the unconscious mind.

A Final Word

Silence the conscious mind and the sub-conscious will get activated. The conscious can be silenced through Sufi dances, meditation and whole lot of concentration exercises and contemplative practices.

Sub-conscious makes us wise, intuitive and highly creative. But to tap its enormous power requires enormous hard work. We tend to be so busy in our mechanical-routine lives, we hardly have time even to think on these lines. And we keep postponing whatever can be postponed until we reach a crisis.

Abba Eban said, “History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.” Will we start tapping our sub-conscious only when we have exhausted all other alternatives and made a complete fool of ourselves?

The choice is ours.

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Dr. Amit Nagpal is a Personal Branding Consultant, passionate Blogger, and Motivational Speaker based in New Delhi, India. He specializes in personal branding with a holistic touch. His philosophy is “Take Charge of your Life and your Brand” He writes a Blog, “The Joys of Teaching”

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

What do we mean when we talk about the subconscious? How can we tap into its power to enhance our effectiveness?

Our subconscious and conscious minds are like an iceberg. The conscious mind is the tip we can see. It is that small part of awareness that is above the surface, the part on which we are currently focused, the part that is obvious, right here, right now, to our five senses. The subconscious mind lies below the surface. It is an enormous source of untapped resources we don’t normally see. What we don’t see, we can’t use to support our lives, our communities, and our world. When we tap into our subconscious and bring its energetic power to the surface, we mine its abundance and use its resources to enhance both our own lives and the lives of all around us. We tap into the depths to experience the light.

There are parts of our subconscious we don’t want to see because they hurt too much or are too frightening. We don’t want to look at our fear until we develop phobias. We don’t want to look at our pain and rage until we’ve experienced deep betrayal and loss. We don’t want to look at our guilt until we’re ready to say, “I’m sorry” and change our conduct. We don’t want to look at our self-righteousness until we are willing and able to walk in another’s shoes.

I’d like to invite you to a mutual mind-mapping game with the intention of engaging both you and me in tapping into the power of our individual subconscious minds. Then we can shape the energy we discover and transform it into powerful tools for transforming our lives.

I’m going to put my thoughts “out there”. As you read my thoughts, just notice your own thoughts and emotions. Your mind may be saying, “Oh, that’s neat. I hadn’t thought of that before.” Or your mind may be saying, “Is she nuts? That doesn’t make sense at all.”  What your mind says doesn’t matter. Just notice where your mind and emotions are taking you when you read my words. Notice whether you are feeling an attraction, a resistance, or no emotional charge at all.

What you feel doesn’t matter. Just notice the energy of that feeling. You are observing your subconscious by using Witness mode – the detached portion of yourself looking at the mentally and emotionally involved part of yourself. Then begin your own mind mapping process, starting with what you notice about your own thoughts and emotions. Are you focused on the meanings of my words? Are you feeling attraction? Curiosity? Resistance? Play? Fear? Write down whatever flows through your mind – without censorship.

The “without censorship” is vital. That is how you bypass the conditioned thinking of the conscious mind – the mind you’ve been taught is all that is; the mind you’ve been taught is right, the mind that wears dark glasses so it doesn’t have to look at things it doesn’t want to see below the tip of the iceberg, beneath the surface of consciousness.

If and when you and I become willing to explore the unending depths of our own subconscious, we discover a never-ending, fertile, playground for exploration, discovery, creativity, and self-empowerment. Sometimes our subconscious takes us on joyous rides of ecstasy. Other times it takes us into deep, dark caverns of terror, rage, and guilt. Like St. John of the Cross, our subconscious offers us spiritual opportunities to come face to face with our own dark night of the soul, master our emotions, integrate our spiritual gifts of deepening understanding and clarity, and shift into fuller awareness, consciousness, power, and peace. The change in our own energy is the enormous power that indirectly changes the lives of those around us. This is the space where synchronicities abound and miracles happen.

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Dr. Janet Smith Warfield serves wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. To learn more, see www.wordsculptures.com, www.wordsculpturespublishing.com, www.janetsmithwarfield.com

Two Perspectives on Fear of Criticism

Two Perspectives is a new monthly column with two different perspectives on the same topic from two different continents, cultures, and genders, viz., from

Dr. Amit Nagpal, New Delhi, India, and

Janet Smith Warfield, J.D., Florida, USA

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Dr. Amit Nagpal’s Perspective

Life offers us two choices, viz., to be secure, anonymous and uncriticized or to take chance at innovation and uniqueness and risk criticism.

There is a famous saying, “I don’t know the road to success but I know the road to failure – trying to please everybody.” Do you like to avoid criticism and try to please everybody? One thing is guaranteed then that you are going to remain the Average Joe or you will belong to the trio of Tom, Dick and Harry, for all great ideas have been initially ridiculed, slowly accepted and finally appreciated as being obvious.

Man is a social animal of course and wants the acceptance of friends, relatives and society. But at what cost do we get the acceptance is an important question, if it comes by killing our very soul, I am doubtful, if it is worth it.

The society tends to criticize anyone who chooses an unusual path and refuses to follow the herd mentality. Sometimes there are genuine reasons and fears behind social criticism for e.g. leaving a secure job and starting your own business. If you have a family to support, the social criticism in some ways is justified as the entire family may have to suffer your decisions. But what if you don’t start the business, kill your soul and become a frustrated person, slowly killing yourself and family members with your negativity?

In management theory, we have something called contingency approach which basically says that every situation is unique and there are no standard answers to problems. The same is true for life, there are no standard solutions. The inner voice generally gives us the best answers (and aided by meditation, it can give us the most wise answers) and we must listen to it. In Hindi there is a saying, “Suno sabki, karo apni” which means we must listen to everyone’s advice but take our own decisions. We know our situation the best, don’t we? Of course the family members’ concerns need to be kept into account while making the critical choices in life.

Due to our fear of criticism, we tend to hide to avoid criticism and thus guarantee failure in our life. We tend to forget that the criticism is of the ideas/ventures and not us. So why care too much? All the greatest people in the world have had their share of flops but they persisted and did not get bowed down by criticism. Edison went to the extent of saying that he did not fail; he only discovered 1000 things which did not work. That’s the spirit of great people, that’s what distinguishes the average from the remarkable.

Seth Godin says, “Nobody says ‘Yeah, I would like to set myself up for some serious criticism.’ And yet the only way to be remarkable is to do just that.” So do you still fear criticism, no problem, just mentally prepare yourself to live an average life. Don’t mind my blunt approach as the writing on the wall says “Brutally Honest, Ruthlessly Frank” Take it or leave it for that’s what I am.

“When you are the first person, whose beliefs are different from what everyone else believes, you are basically saying, “I am right and everyone else is wrong.” That’s a very unpleasant position to be in. It’s at once exhilarating and at the same time an invitation to be attacked.

Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle Corporation

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To know more about Dr Amit Nagpal go to:

http://www.dramitnagpal.co.in/p/about-us.htm _____________________________________________________________________________________

Janet Smith Warfield’s Perspective

When I am afraid of criticism, who is the critic: the person out there or the person in here?

When I was fifteen, I overheard a classmate call me “queer.” It felt like a knife through my heart.

I could only think that there must be something dreadfully wrong with me. I was different. Boys rarely asked me out. I wasn’t part of the clique. I liked school and wanted to learn. I got good grades. My parents adored me and my teachers praised me as one of their better students.

Many of my classmates had abusive parents, hated school, hated homework, cracked jokes, gossiped, clowned, dated, and got drunk. Yes, maybe I was queer.

Unconsciously, I absorbed that “queer” label with all its pain and negative connotations. For years, the belief crippled me. My hands shook. I had knots in my stomach. I hid my talents and abilities for fear of offending others. I was afraid to reach out and build friendships. I thought of committing suicide.

I had allowed one foolish little word, spoken by another without thought or conscious intention, to destroy my spirit. I was terrified to be who I was because others might not like me.

I wanted to please others, but I soon noticed that not all people were pleased by the same things. I had a small group of friends who loved to learn. We were the minority, both envied and despised by our classmates. Who was I supposed to please: My friends? Other students? My parents? My teachers? Who was right? Who was wrong? I lived in a hell of confusion, chaos and conflicting doctrines.

Many years later, I began focusing on my own personal growth and what I wanted to do with my life. I attended a workshop where one of the exercises was breaking a board with my hand. The purpose was not an idle exercise in physical strength. The purpose was to overcome fear.

On the near side of the board, we wrote what we were afraid of. On the far side of the board, we wrote what we would have or be if we overcame our fear. On the near side I wrote, “Fear of losing my relationship with my sons if I pursue my vision and purpose.” On the far side, I wrote, “I am going to pursue my vision and purpose and I’m bringing my sons with me into full human potential.”

As I took my stance to break the board, the instructors told us to focus on the far side of the board: what we would have or be if we overcame our fear. My long years of listening to my teachers stood me in good stead. I focused on pursuing my vision and purpose and bringing my sons with me into full human potential. The board snapped. Students who focused on their fears didn’t break the board.

I have been criticized and verbally abused many times. I know now that critical, verbally abusive, judgmental, angry words say nothing about me. They say volumes about the speaker. His energy is blocked. She is powerless and ineffective. How can I feel anything but compassion and forgiveness? That does not mean I must remain in this destructive energy.

I still have moments of fear and contraction when I hear someone’s angry, judgmental words. Now, however, I know how to release the fear so I can function again. All it takes is a simple shift in focus from an outside authority to my own inner authority. For me, that inner authority must be aligned with a Higher Power I have chosen to believe in. My mind can neither understand nor explain it. My experience tells me the belief makes a difference in what I can accomplish.

Is it selfish, arrogant, narcissistic, insane to trust my own inner authority? There go those critical words again, spinning around in my brain.

No! I choose to believe that relying on that inner authority is as sane as any of us is ever going to get. I intend to keep breaking the board of my self-imposed limitations and focusing on the vision beyond.

When I notice an energetic shift in my body into fear and contraction, I simply detach from the speaker’s words, whether that speaker is me or someone else. Then I notice where my mind is. (This is sometimes called the Witness.) I can promise you my mind is either in the future or on what someone else may think, say or do. When I notice where my mind is, I make a conscious choice to bring it back to the present moment. Perhaps I’m in my own living room, my office, or my car. I’m safe there. It’s only my mind that is off on sabbatical, terrorizing me with its fantasies of future catastrophes.

Once I consciously bring my mind back to the present moment, I simply ask, “What is your next step? What can you do right here, right now, to move your vision forward?” Then I do it!

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Janet Smith Warfield works with wisdom-seekers who want understanding and clarity so they can live peaceful, powerful, prosperous lives. Through her unique combination of holistic, creative, right-brain transformational experiences and 22 years of rigorous, left-brain law practice, she has learned how to sculpt words in atypical ways to shift her listeners into experiences beyond words, transforming turmoil into inner peace. For more information about Janet, go to

www.janetsmithwarfield.com

www.wordsculpturespublishing.com

www.wordsculptures.com

Copyright © 2011 – Janet Smith Warfield. All rights reserved.