a better life, action, adaptation, asking questions, awareness, Beliefs, change, change management, christian, desire, Energy, examined life, game of life, God, happiness, mind, reflection, spirit, spirituality, Vitality, you, your life

The unexamined life.

All winning racing car drivers strategically takes regular ‘pit stops’- to refresh, refuel, replace and reflect on their performance before they begin again … all the way towards winning in the long run

Regular “pit stops”

Many people exist to live but few, live with life. More specifically, “the essence of life’.

Many people live by choice and some live without a choice. Many living by choice, choose to live day-to-day without reflecting on their ways – their lives.

In seven years of owning and managing what was Australia’s Longest-running gym” at that time (48 years), I have gained a lot of insight in to life. I spent a lot of time listening and observing life through other peoples’ experiences (OPE), from people from all levels of society. From the very rich (I had a member that was one of the Top 100 wealthiest people in Australia) to the very poor.

Life has taught me a lot. So far. I am approaching the half century mark in calendar years but feel (and tell my children) that I have lived over a hundred years. Strange? Yes, but there are stranger things.

We all face problems in our lives. Some more than others.

One such problem, as I see it is being so ‘busy’ that they don’t take ‘time out’ or what I refer to as regular ‘pit-stops’ like a good grand prix racing car driver does.

Why is this important? It is, not only for recovery and re-infusion of vitality and the life force but also, time out for reflection.

Alarmingly, this has been happening since the dawn of time. One of the biggest issues facing many is that they are living unexamined lives.

Stop. Take stock. Be like water. Adapt to the different states of life … and mind.

Life view and purpose

Most men (and women) have not carefully plotted their life view and purpose.

Many use the ‘scatter-gun approach’ and hope to get a hit, similar to the concept of the lotto and why it taps in to the very nature of people’s inner sanctity.

They have not really taken the time to ‘think’, or to UN-think.

Taking regular time out to really reflect and honestly examine their life so far and the life they would like to live in to the future. Many just go about life copying the generations that has passed before them or what they are told by the media. Yes, to think is very difficult, especially, to think about the one life that you have.

As we’ve all heard or read – “to think is the most difficult thing to do.”

Indeed it is.

Not taking time out to reflect is akin to using a cassette tape player to listen to music in the technological age we’re in now. The cassette player is part of the heaps of ‘stuff’ we used to use once-upon-a-time in our lives. Now, though, it is not relevant. The model is not relevant.

That applies to many things that you’ve been wired to think and do, basically downloaded from previous generations into your amazing computing machine (your brain) in the first seven years of your life, even before you had a choice in the matter. Operating systems (beliefs, values, way of thinking, world-view, lifestyle etc) that was relevant for the previous generations but not now. Not for the life you live now and in the near future.

As scientists say – “you are the activity of your neurons.”

To make changes, any worthwhile change is not easy. True. But there is reason to believe, if you believe, we can shape our connectome by the actions we take, even by the things that we think, according to Neuroscientist, Sebastian Seung in his book: Connectome.

The thing is despite our brain wiring making us who we are, we play an important role in re-wiring our brains.

By desire. Strong desire.

Knowing what to retain and what to let go takes skill and wisdom. Something you are not taught in the education system, there are no ‘manual on HOW TO use your brain’ and mind. It is left to chance for many.

A wise old friend once told me to be an expert on “managing my funnel better.’ In other words, learn the art of “cutting out more bullshit in your life”.

And many would rather take the ‘chance’ then take the time to reflect and THINK. It is the easier path to take.

Notice I said, easier, not better.

Are you your brain or are you your mind? Neuroscience has learned more in the last 10 years about the brain then it knew in the last two centuries of guess work

Truth and beauty

I can put it down to many things.

One Key thing is: it is people’s inability to search for truth and obedience to GOD! This model has stood the test of time and is still relevant today. It is the only way to salvation.

Maybe, salvation is where heaven is. Maybe, heaven is just a giant computer mainframe and we are all PCs connected to this ‘heaven’ or consciousness at different levels and/capacities.

In the modern world we live in, it seems everybody is in a rush and are ‘busy’.

It’s almost as if it is a competition. Everyone is trying to be busier than the next person. People are rushing from task to busy task and even ‘multi-tasking’ with pride, but are not taking enough time-out or pit-stops to reflect on life’s larger meaning and purpose.

“Is this the path to truth, to my search for beauty?” many ask.

Maybe.

Maybe, not.

Be kind on yourself and FOCUS on one thing at a time and …
do it once and do it well.

What should you do?

Maybe, learn how others do it. Like, say, the Fijians for example. Why? Because they have made the term “Fiji Time” very famous and are regularly viewed as the Happiest People on the planet.

Why?

Well, for many reasons, one of which is that they understand between being and respecting ‘being in the moment’ and keeping it separate from memories. They do this very well because they take regular ‘time out’ and don’t necessarily see life as a sprint, but a marathon.

Another reason is: they are very religious and spiritual as a race, a culture, a nation. It has the highest ‘believers’ per capita in the world. They have very strong and un-wavering belief and faith.

They always have a day of ‘rest’. Individually and as a nation, they respect this day in thought and actions they take. This day of rest is a day of ‘reflection’. By reflecting, they increase awareness – of self and of matters external to them. This reflection allows each person the ability to give thanks and boost their attitude of gratitude’ towards living and towards their provider:

God.

Believe or not believe.
Get your ass off the pole of the fence (stop sitting on the fence!)
Choose.

And how am I an authority on everything “Fijian”and better understanding of ‘happiness’ than most people?

Because I was born and lived my early childhood in Fiji. I am 1/16^th Fijian. It is in my blood, a drop I know, but it is there.

I now reside in one of the busiest and most beautiful cities in the world, Sydney Australia but …

As I’ve heard before …

You can take the Fijian out of the islands, but you can’t take the Fijian-ness out of the boy.

On a beach in one of my favourite parts of the world: the paradise islands of Fiji.
Enjoying the sun again.

Take it from me (and the vast majority of OPEs), Life is not a sprint. It is a long-distance marathon or grand prix car race.

The one with more strategic scheduled ‘pit-stops’ usually lives not only a long, good life but but a long good life of significance.

It’s your life, afterall.

Tip: Periodically Stop. Breathe. Reflect. Give thanks. Begin again

The brain cannot multi-task, this is a myth.
Neuroscience shows that the brain can only TASK-SWITCH.
You CANNOT multi-task without mistakes[/caption]

A valuable asset you possess: your attention

People live like their life as if it were a sprint.

A sprint to this elusive place. Where? It depends. Ask them when they stop, or …. when they’re six-feet under.

Many people are consumed in action(s), constantly reacting to a never-ending in-box of stimulus vying for their attention, time and money. A seemingly endless menu of options of reactions to constant interruption. Interruption to your life … your hours … your seconds.

People are spending a big portion of their 86,400 seconds per day just reacting to interruption (via the various technological inputs we have today in addition to other mediums). People’s attentions are being hijacked and in turn, so are their lives (time) and money.

What is all this rushing around for? Where will it ultimately get you?

I think it was Ghandi that said once “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”

People ask – “why?” … I /My curiosity continually askS “why not?”
Seek possibilities… always

Unthink to Think

Like everything else, practise helps.

As a lawyer or an Accountant or a sportstar is no better than the effort he puts into keeping up with his profession, so is the Christian no better than the effort he puts into self-examination of life’s big questions.

So, if you have not done so already, make time to reflect and examine your life today … before it is too late. It is your life, you only have one life after all. Achieve your salvation.

As Socrates said a long time ago –

“The unexamined life is not worth living”.

Start praying for answers to life’s big questions. I believe that your most important task is to not only be unafraid to ask questions but to ask the right questions.

For your sake, if you have not done so already, start examining the most important person in the world to you and that is: YOU! You do this by slowing down, having periodic time-outs and reflecting.

It can be very scary and a very difficult thing to do, to think. As a start, release all fears and release all doubt to aid you to release the unexamined life and embrace the examined life.

Find your way, your true path in life, even if it is a path less travelled.

Become increasingly Aware; take sufficient and appropriate Actions. Adapt (My Triple A philosophy to self-improvement in all areas of life).

Examine life. Examine you. To become the best you. Then, by default, everyone else gets the best of you too.

The examined life may not be all that flash either but I think it would be a life worth living as it would attract what you expect and reflect what you desire.

All the best!

Until next time,

Find your light.
Follow the path your light shines on
towards finding your TRUTH, your beauty.
Even better, use your light to help another soul that sees only darkness.
One life saved is worth more than a million empty words.

The Brain 🧠.
The mind.
I AM.
Use this most complex tool every created to become a better medium of communication to …. the universe, to infinite intelligence … to consciousness.
To your GOD.

Allow your mind to ”connect’ with infinite intelligence.
With consciousness.
It is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.

a better life, action, adaptation, awareness, Energy

The world needs more insanity.

Here, Chris is enhancing his ‘mind-muscle connection’ (posing). This helps close the ‘gap’ between how he sees himself in the mirror and how he imagines himself to be.
He dreamed it and then achieved it.

Feeling to think, not thinking to feel

You may be a little shocked at such a subject heading and fair enough.

Stick with me now …. Firstly, lets attempt to define the term ‘sanity’. How would we define insanity? Possible description could be ‘that which is not sane’. So, my next question is how would you define sanity?

Do you believe that the world needs more sanity or insanity?

I believe the world needs more of the latter. Some would argue that the world is already insane and that we don’t need anymore. My question is what contributed to what got us here in the first place?

As I see it, the ugliness in the world today is the compounding effect of sane/logical thinking over the ages resulting from the brain-washing belief that everyone thought of themselves as thinking creatures that feel.

This is where the root of the problem is – because biologically we are feeling creatures that think, not the other way around!

So, if we are the latter, then most of our thoughts, actions and behaviour will be heavily influenced by the hormones running havoc within our body to make us feel a certain way. Modern neuroscience confirms this in brain scans. I have always believed that, contrary to what most of you think, you are not in control of yourself as you think you are.

Let’s be honest, can you really stay in control of yourself when you’re in the heat of sex with your lover/partner/husband/wife? When you’re flushed with all those sexual hormones, you simply cannot do anything about it … you just have to let it ‘run its course’. That is an obvious example of why I say that those tiny little micro-scopic elements of our body – the hormones are ultimately in control of everything we think and do.

Scary thought isn’t it?

Beauty is Truth, truth – beauty. That is all there is on earth ..and all ye need to know.
Be aware of the beauty with and around you.
Don’t just look, ‘see’

One of the things that keeps people feeling sane is the illusion that they are ‘in control’ of themselves and their destiny in life. Certainly a comforting thought. To know that they are not is one of the scariest things for a human to ponder and could drive one insane.

Trust is key

One of the keys to feel your way through something is to ‘trust’.

But trust seems to be in short supply in today’s increasingly interrupted world. One of the key reasons I believe the world needs more insanity is because every one of us (you included) experience insanity (intermittently) every single day. This is a strength, not a weakness. Let me explain….

“And how do we do that (experience intermittent insanity)?” you may be thinking.

Well, every time we sleep and we ‘dream’, we technically experience intermittent insanity. Do you dream? Do you struggle to remember your dreams when you awake from your slumber? I know I do.

Everyone needs a little help, a little guidance, a few wise words of encouragement at critical points in our paths through life.
With a quality plan + quality implementation (mentor/coach), you can achieve the results that you seek with a little push like I appear to be doing here with Brad.

To dream is to experience temporary insanity

It would seem that to dream is to experience living in a fantasy world. However, in this world, things happen, emotions are felt, actions are carried out, people are present, with all the waking sensations coming and going.

So if you sleep, then it is highly likely that you dream (even though you don’t recall most of them). And if you dream, then you at several points in your sleep – you experience a temporary and intermittent form of insanity!

So, it follows that to dream is to be insane.

This is exactly what the world needs more than ever. The world needs more dreamers. Someone had to dream up the Opera House before it was built. Someone had to dream up the Empire State Building or the Sydney Harbour Bridge before it was built.

The world needs more dreamers …. More insane people.

Imagination and dreaming is key

The world needs dreamers to develop new creations, innovate new ways of doing things, inspire new technologies to help make the world a better place to live in. The world needs more people who are insane and comfortable being insane.

People need to be comfortable in their uniqueness, in the difference they bring to the world. People need to appreciate their uniqueness and celebrate it, instead of just trying ‘to be the same as everyone else’.

I couldn’t think of anything worse than that.

These individuals (including you) are not striving to ‘being different’ but instead are comfortable with ‘creating a difference’ in the world, one person at a time.

One of my many quirks …. my alter-ego: the old Captain Viking Pirate Muscle Monk

It is the dreamers, the person’s that experienced and remembered those ‘moments of insanity (dreams)’ that bring about change. The real geniuses of change started out by ‘feeling’ the real pain others’ were feeling every day in whatever area of life.

These dreaming change agents, dreaming of a better world bring about change. Positive change.

We need dreamers to offer new perspective on familiar challenges. We need dreamers to take the world we all know and create chaos and turn it around so that we (the world) can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle.

The world needs to learn to embrace the ideas that flow from these dreamers because they may be profound, because they are novel, because they may be clarifying, because they are contrary and because they may be outright bizarre. For all these chaotic reasons and more, dreamers will provide the jolts of energy that the world needs to move forward to a better place.

People do not want a world that is different. No, people want something to be able to create a difference. A positive difference. This is what dreamers, what all the intermittent insanity sufferers can offer.

The world needs more insanity, more dreamers to provide hope that each and every individual has the courage to create a difference. To create change. To be empowered.

One life at a time.

Ex-Australian Wallaby Rugby Captain achieving his transformation goals under my watchful eyes.
Using my framework, the product was tailored and customized to him.
There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to body re-engineering.

Keep dreaming, I say. Never stop dreaming and never stop believing in yourself.

Be comfortable being uncomfortable

On a personal level, everyone I have ever helped in the gym over the last twenty years who have successfully achieved desired results actually set goals for themselves and had clear pictures of how they imagined themselves to be. By setting goals, they have dreamed and believed in their dream (goals).

As I push them ever so gently beyond their perceived limitations in their programs, I remind them that to produce their best, to bring out their best, they’ve got to learn to be ‘comfortable being uncomfortable’. Not forever, no, just for a specific point in time for their overall goal achievement.

What is a goal anyway? It can be said to be a ‘dream with a deadline!”

There is enough evidence over time that the breaks go to the people with dreams. The breaks go to those who are a little insane (to dream). To get your ‘break’ in whatever area in your life, you need to dream, you need to set specific goals.

It is like magic because somehow, it seems, in my experience the dream itself provides the motivation and the means for its own accomplishment.

Get sufficient daily sleep and rest for the mind, body and spirit as this is key for recovery and functioning optimally. In doing so, embrace those intermittent moments of insanity (dreams) and try to harness them. Who knows, you could be the creator of a tool that may serve and help the citizens of the world become a better place.

I know, I get most of my life-changing ideas and thoughts communicated to me in my dreams, in my enhanced communication with consciousness.

Continuously helping you become the best you can be … BEGIN help by helping yourself.
Then,
Reach out and touch someone … be the light for someone who can only see darkness.
Help them see ‘beauty’ .. see their truth.
Help them manage their insanity with sanity … their chaos with order.
Pray.

So, allow yourself to be insane every now and then. I think it is healthy and I think the world needs more insanity. I believe the power rests within each and every human being as each and every one of you have talents that are just waiting to be uncovered.

Open that door to possibilities, your possibilities … through dreams. As someone once said, if you can’t dream it, you can’t achieve it!

It is through controlled chaos, that we evolve and achieve a new state of equilibrium – individually and collectively, a new order.

Until next time,

Side Triceps.
Australian Natural Bodybuilding Championships.
2nd in Australia.
“Quality Plan + Quality Implementation = Quality Results.

Champions practise a lot of visualisation and simulation.
To create magic, you need to fuse the worlds of sanity (where you are) with insanity (where you dream/imagine you are, before you are).
That is difficult.
That is one of the key keys.
Don’t stop. Trying. Believing.
Keep on … keeping on. You’ll get there. Everyone always does.
Especially, if you do it with your heart. and ….
with LOVE.

a better life, action, adaptation, awareness, balance, beauty, choices, Energy, game of life, self improvement, symmetry, taking action

Simple is beautiful. Complex is not.

Keep it simple.

I love simple. I love simplicity.

I believe the very idea of ‘keeping things simple’ and the very idea of simplicity adopted in all areas of life is one of the most valuable yet still very under-rated aspects of life.

In all areas of life one needs to strive towards simplicity as this brings you towards a more harmonious life.

I can see where this trend of ‘minimalism’ has evolved from in today’s modern world. Smart living is what I call it, smart living. Similar to the way I encourage every person that I have ever helped in the gym over the last twenty plus years is to Train SMART. This is partly why I believe that simple is beautiful.

As I have said in previous blog write-ups, my definition of beauty or beautiful is ‘balance and symmetry’. Nothing more, nothing less. We can see it readily in nature – a beautiful flower or leaf, the beauty of the way a shark swims and the beauty of autumn leaves scattered all over the ground. It’s everywhere! We just need to learn more from nature.

How? We’ll keep it simple!

To become more balanced and symmetrical in the various areas of life though, you need to work, and you need to work hard and smart. You need to work at becoming a little more organized and organize things a little bit more differently in order to approach simple. You need to be able to let go, to destroy what is not relevant in your life. You need courage to bring chaos in to your life to have the opportunity to create and evolve. With a continuous adaptive strategy you can find your new equilibrium, your new state of balance and symmetry.

Just like Life, muscle too, is the continuous fusion of chaos and order. The real skill comes in the awareness of simplicity because mastering the ability to ‘filter out what is not relevant in your life’ (being a better manager of your funnel) is one of the most difficult skills in life to master. Through continuously assessing multiple feedback loops, you are able to self-tune. This takes courage and it takes time. Ultimately, this brings you closer to ‘the essence of the various areas of your life. This brings you closer to simple. Why?

Because SIMPLE IS BEAUTIFUL!

Look & learn. Start from a clean slate. Create & Evolve. Keep it simple.

Making anything – any process, any part of your life more complex, eventually leads to ugliness. Because complex is ugly. Some people may like ugly and that is ok. But I think we have enough ugliness in the world already.

So, it follows that one has to make the complex – simple.

This can only be achieved through increased awareness. Increased awareness within yourself and increased awareness of the external environment that affects you and your life.

Then, make a quality plan and sometimes getting help from a strategist to guide you in taking sufficient and appropriate actions towards non-complexity, one step-at-a-time. A quality plan is useless without quality implementation.

The most important step and almost always under-rated step is to adapt. A lot of people forget to do this or don’t do this completely. It is the process of adaptation that really allows you towards your state of beauty.

Perhaps it is this: ‘truth is beauty, beauty truth. That is all ye need to know’ as the famous poet Keats wrote. There you go – beauty is not only simple, it is truth or closer.

Ultimately, you have to find your truth. And what is beauty to you?

My tip: whenever something is starting to become complex – simplify it. It is as simple as that but as a great philosopher once said, ‘it is the simple things in life that is also the most difficult to do’.

Still, just try and continue doing so. The returns are far greater to you in the long-term compared to the short-term costs invested in time and resources.

Simplifying the complex in all areas of life is key. This will save you from a lot of re-work and headache later in life.

Observe. Learn the basics. Start from scratch. Stick to the basics. Keep it simple, continuously.

Begin. There’s no time like the present as there is no time to waste.

Until next time,

A slight variation to the common ‘back double biceps’ compulsory body-building pose.

Changing lives. Empowering people. One life at a time.

Triple A to Life: Awareness. Action. Adaptation.

Monthly Archives: March 2016

The unexamined life.

The world needs more insanity.

Simple is beautiful. Complex is not.