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Plant your Oak Tree

The Oak – 7 x Mr Olympia, Arnold Schwarzennegger

Don’t just be any tree, be an Oak Tree

Have you ever thought of the Oak Tree?

I have. Thing is .. I like Trees.

Very early in life when my fascination with muscle and bodybuilding began, I learned that the great Arnold Schwarzenegger was nick-named “The Oak”. Just like the oak tree – big, enduring, aesthetically balanced and strong through the course of time, it weathered all types of weather. Oak trees can live up to 300 years old. The Oak Tree got me thinking about life…. how, maybe, we should not just be any tree, but … be an Oak Tree.

Imagine for a second what would it feel like to plant an Oak Tree?

Now, the actual planting of the tree would obviously give you a lovely feeling at that point in time. I mean, there is not a chance in the world you would be around to see the little seed grow in to the magnificent tree that it is to be. They live up to 300 years!

Now, imagine, one may be two hundred years on, some person may look up and admire its beauty and grandness but would never even think of you – of the person who made a conscious choice to plant that little seed in place. No one would thank YOU. No one would remember you for it. So, why would you even consider doing it then?

How would such an irrational action give you so much pleasure?

The Best decisions are always made with a  bit of irrationality … a bit of heart inclusion.

Well, there are many reasons, but I believe that maybe, just maybe, more of our decisions in life should be made with the Oak Tree in mind. I think we need to look at our life from a different perspective – a ‘long-term perspective’, from the perspective of the Oak Tree. Yep, the tree.

I think we should be making decisions that matter in life just because it seems right. At that point in time and would seem right in the days that you depart this beautiful planet. We need to make decisions from the Oak Tree’s view, one that is a long-term perspective.

Feel the interconnectedness of everything
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To have an “Oak decision” means to make a decision with a long-term perspective

Ask yourself this question: how many areas in the rest of your life that has the ‘Oak Tree’ view or longer-term perspective?

Most people live their lives looking for short-term or quarterly business results; the next season’s trends, gadgets and fashion; the next season’s flowers or at best a crop or business investment that would have a two or three year pay-off. I understand that. It is a fact of life. However, why is it that the best and great family businesses have a more longer-term view or perspective in mind, always.

Well, from my small research in to longevitiy of businesses, typically, the founding business owners would make decisions that would have their children or grandchildren reap the benefits. Not necessarily, them. Their business growth, expansion, their bigness comes down to one of perspective, one of long-term strategy, taking the Oak Tree perspective. Something which, in today’s world most businesses find it so hard to cultivate.

This applies to individuals too. Like you, too. To have an Oak Decision meanse to make a decision with Long-term perspective. For example, when I picked up my first set of weights, I knew that I would include the weight training as a part of my whole life but I was also going to be ont he world stage competing against the best bodybuilders in the world.

I made my decision with a long-term perspective … an Oak Tree approach. I gave myself 10 years.

I got to 2 x World Competitions.

Me my extended family members; a group of members of my family gym.
They all loved training and being part of the extended family that was my gym
Relationship take time to develop .. just like an Oak Tree needs time to grow

There is no such thing as “Lay-By” these days

The short-term perspective is all around us – everywhere.

It is a disease of the modern age, but just like most diseases, it can be managed or better still, cured.

Instant gratification, that is. People don’t seem to practise delayed gratification anymore. There is no such thing as a “Lay-by” these days, when purchasing a product/want. People want new version of products now and pay for it immediately too. Great for business, but what does it say about the direction society is heading?

Lets have a look at politicians, for example.

Modern politicians live with constant need to win the next election, which is on average, two or three years away, if they are not ambushed out of government by their own before election day. However, parties that have better intrinsic values take office to decide on policies which may not produce results for ten years or more. Lets hope our politicians are adopting this Oak Tree perspective.

Most religions believe in life after death of some sort. Christianity believes in life after death. Maybe, it is the Christian way and message to live and make decisions now, so that others may benefit later …. So that there is life, after your life is gone, there is life – others’ lives after your death.

Imagination is power, as the saying goes … but I don’t fully agree with that statement –

I say –

“Knowledge is potential power. Applied knowledge is power’

… so try and imagine planting your Oak tree or trees today that represent your decisions in all areas of your life … and feel great about it. Not only just because it feels right for you, now but it is the right thing to do for your future generations.

Plant your Oak Tree, today!

Until next time …

Have a long-term perspective on decisions you make in life

Cheers & Ahoy!!

 

The old Cap’n Viking Pirate … & making decision with the long-term view in mind

 

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Too many mind.

To dig deep, you have to dig deep.


My grandfather told me … 

Yes, not who are you… no, what are you?

My grandfather told me when I was very young that – “You are what you constantly think about every day. “ My grandfather was a bit of a philosopher as I later inferred.

Well, great. I guess, we had better think life-affirming thoughts then, shouldn’t we?

I think so.

Thought has power.

Thought has power.

You’re probably aware of that already… but how do you use that power – consciously?

Thought has energy. What is Energy? One would immediately think of an energy drink. Energy does not vanish., it is never created nor destroyed. It does not disappear. It persists for all of time. All of eternity. Energy transforms from one medium to another or many.

To think, really think .. is probably the hardest thing To do in life

Energy is life.

Energy TRANSMUTES.

Energy transmutes from one moment to another. Energy is the life-blood of life itself. Without energy,  I would cease to exist. You would cease to exist. Life, as we know it, would cease to exist.

So, it could be argued that energy is life and that would make Einstein one of the greatest thinkers that has ever walked this earth.

Why?

Simply, because I think he came up with a formula that fundamentally sums up Life. And what formula would that be, Paul? Well, I’m certain everyone who is reading this knows this following formula:

Energy (E) = Mass (m) x (C x C),    where C = Speed of light

Or, in layman’s speech – E = M C squared.

In the Quantum world the Experimenter becomes part of the experiment.
That is the “hard problem” of the Quantum

Everything is energy, including your thoughts. 

So, if life is Energy, then based on the formula above, everything is energy – all matter, and matter being gas, liquid and solid…. & everything in-between.

Energy is everything and everywhere and omni-present.  It could be said that Energy is God, because God is omnipresent too. The formula above describes that of classical physics but in Quantum Physics, the energy of a particle in its simplest forms (photon, proton etc) within a system is summed up in another famous formula by Physicist – Max Plank:

That Energy (E) = the wave vibration of the particle x Plank’s constant.

Phew, what is that Paul, some of you may ask?

Well, it simply says that everything is energy and that each sub-system of a system, for example, a particle, has a certain wave frequency and oscillates at that wave-length. It should also be noted that Quantum particles can exist in two or more states or locations simultaneously and can be mathematically described by a Quantum wave-function. Interesting findings by science, isn’t it? So, energy is everywhere. Everything is energy, including your thoughts.

So, What does that say? What does that tell us about thought?

Everything has a frequency, everything has a resonance. What is your resonance? What resonates with you?

Are your thoughts … Oscillating in a wavelength that is healthy?

Well, we have got to ask ourselves what frequency of thought we are on and if we are oscillating in a wavelength that is healthy. If we are not, can we and what do we need to do to change our thought operating frequency (from negative to positive) and make the change to a different thought oscillation, making this your default. Your default way of thinking.

So if everything is energy, I also think we have got to devote more thought ( as I’ve established is a form of energy) … devote more thought to energy itself but in particularly, in our management of energy.

Back to my opening statement about thought.

What are you?

You become what you think of, everyday.

It is said that any thought held unwaveringly in mind, or any thought held constantly in mind through focused concentration and brought into the conscious mind often enough, seemingly, attracts to it those qualities of the human mind which it most resembles. Basically, you become what you think, every day.

A thought is like a seed put in the ground, that produces a crop that is of its kind and how healthy it turns out depends on the nutrients and caring it has from its internal and external environment.

Therefore, one must watch one’s thoughts.

It is dangerous to allow the mind to hold any thought which is destructive. Why, because, such thought will manifest itself in the physical sense, sooner or later. Be careful, I say, be careful! Just like the seedling needs constant nutrition and nourishment from the sunlight and healthy soil to keep them alive, so does the qualities of your mind. Without proper nutrition and nourishment, everything that lives and grows, dies.

Everything.

Feel the interconnectedness of everything
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Nutrition for the mind is as important… than nutrition for the body.

The qualities of the human mind also dies, if one does not nourish it and constantly feed it the nutrition it needs to live and develop. Nutrition for the mind is as important, if not, more important than nutrition for the body. How do you do this, I hear you ask?

Simple. Keep it simple, stupid (The KISS principle I learned from one of my business mentors).

Like, any plant would: learn to become more aware (of your thought/thoughts), concentrate and think about it, making the correct choice and then apply (or use it). My philosophy of the Triple A can be adopted here. Refer to an earlier blog for an elaboration on the first A: Awareness.

Are you a spirit… a soul … a leaf 🍃 of consciousness in the vast seas of consciousness?

No one has ownership of your mind, but YOU.

No one has ownership of your mind, but you.

Yes – YOU!

You do not need anyone else in this world to help you manipulate your mind so it will function as you want it to. You also have control over your mind, no matter where you are in life, which phase you  are in life, but provided you exercise the right rather than allowing others to do so for you.

Better control and ownership of your mind and choosing to exercise these factors will allow you to free you of the curse of all fears and stagnation. And why is this important? Well, because I believe that there is a growing hidden epidemic in mode-day societies (one of many) and that is many are suffering from –

Too many Mind.

We’re all swinging like a pendulum .. continuously moving between two points – activity & non-activity/ entertainment/rest . Creating waves 🌊…in the universe

Clutter to the mind is akin to weeds are in a garden.

Your mind is made up of the hardware and the software.

The software keeps changing, keeps getting updated, every day, every second of the day, for some. What happens when you fill your tummy up with so much crap, when you eat too much ….

Well, you feel like crap, don’t you?!

Well, that is also what happens when your nutrition for the mind is also crap. If you keep feeding it crap, you will think and ultimately act like someone who is physically ill. But like I said earlier, who has ownership and control of your mind?

You, yes – YOU!

Not managing your food for your body well enough, can make you very ill, just like mis-managing your nutrition for your mind. This leads to chaotic thoughts, which ultimately causes increased clutter & “noise” in the mind, which then leads to bad decisions, because of lack of focus, which then causes distress in the physical world.

Clutter to the mind is akin to what weeds are to a beautiful garden. The weeds feed on the limited resources and sometimes overgrow and overtake the area, affecting the proper growth of the desired plants. Even killing them off.

So, watch your thoughts, I say. Be the best gardener you can be for your garden! Thoughts, positive or negative GROW STRONGER when fertilized with CONSTANT REPEITITION. Remember this.

My idol.

Too many thoughts = Too many mind.

Too many thoughts = too many mind. 

Very similar to that age old saying – “too many cooks spoil the soup.” That I heard adults saying when I was a child. If you have too many thoughts … too many mind … running chaotically through your consciousness … you muddle up the soup .. muddle up or clutter up … your most precious resource: your Mind.

Clutter doesn’t do much more than cloud up or congest one’s life. One’s mind. Its like a ship with too many destinations  and being paralysed with motion as it has too many competing travel plans. I’m not sure who said this but some thinker, I think it was Einstein, that taught us a big lesson: he felt it was more important to use your mind to “think” than to use it as a warehouse for facts.

That if you could record the information somewhere, then do so, hence freeing up your mind for more important decisions. So, do just that. Don’t use your brain as a storehouse of information, it will just cause unnecessary clutter. Instead focus on the thinking or thought process behind the intelligence. That is why my kids are amazed that I have over 35,000 unread emails in my gmail inbox. I chose yo filter out unnecessary “stuff” and stopped weed from using up my brain cells and cluttering my mind.

Let your light bring colour to the world. Focus 🧘🏾‍♂️ your thoughts 💭 on the area you want the rainbow 🌈 to land

The ability to know how to get information is more important than using the mind as a garage for facts.

The ability to know how to ‘get information’ is more important than using the mind as a garage for facts.

What really matters is not how much intelligence you have, but HOW YOU USE what you do have. The thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than the quantity of your brainpower. In other words, the thinking that guides your intelligence is much more important than how much intelligence you may have.

Does science have the answers?

All the answers to the truth? The answers we may have to harvesting the mind? What truth is this? What is truth? What is science anyway … it could be seen as a makeshift, a means to an end which is never attained?

Could nature be truth? Could the universe be truth? Where is the source of our knowledge? Do we know everything? Do we think we know something? Are we, as human beings, so arrogant to think we know something … our so-called meagre knowledge … and maybe, missing out on the advantages of actual ignorance.

A man’s ignorance may not only be useful, but can be seen as beautiful. Sometimes, knowledge can be worse than useless and worse still – ugly!

A butterfly 🦋 knows when to fly and when to sit and feed.
Timing is everything in their life.

Where and how can you harness your mind?

So, where and how can you harness your mind, de-cluttering it in the process. Well, one way, is to get you dreaming again … to spark your imagination. To do this, you could try to fall in love with nature. Become one with nature. Become one with the universe. Let nature become one with your spirit – your subconscious. This would allow the mind to be fertilized and bear fruit in the garden, the garden of your subconscious, the fruit of which is imagination.

How would you know which of your thoughts is valuable: a clue could be any thought that comes to your mind, that is anything, but what you thought….& resonates with your heart ❤️.

That is imagination. Imagination is key: A key gift to you in your journey through life.

So become more aware of your thoughts, and then, catch that ‘aha’ thought that you weren’t trying so hard to think about. Unthink to think (refer to an earlier blog on this).

Until next time,

P.

Tesla, Einstein’s hero was so “in-tune” with the Energy & understood HOW to harness that Power energy

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The End. In Foresight.

Like an FM station, just one point off gives you an irritating “shhhh…”

Ever wondered what the mongoose or squirrel was thinking as it crossed the highway and got hit by a car, its body laying splattered there on the road?

No?

Me neither.

However, it got me thinking about something. About Life.

The roadkill’s life had come to an abrupt end. Its purpose in life was over. It probably wasn’t thinking of the risk of crossing a busy road, with other fast, big, road users.

You see, we’ve all been given 4 key inter-related things/gifts in life:

  1.  Our Mind – to allow us to think and make choices based on our assessment of RISK
  2. Our Body – to execute the wishes of the mind based on our choices
  3. Our Spirit – to help you “see” what the mirror does not reflect
  4. Our Life – determined by how we utilize the other gifts (1,2 and 3).

They say, goals are very important to your success in any area in life.

Goals: Set them. Plan your work. Work your plan.

Probability of realizing the goals are improved. Its true. It works, if you follow it through. There is a difference though, between wishful thinking and goal-setting.

In addition, however, I say: have the End in Mind. Develop your FORE-SIGHT. Improved Foresight enhances INSIGHT.

I leave you with a little formula that might shed a little light in to finding your Purpose in Life:

FOCUS + FORESIGHT = INSIGHT.

No End. No Purpose. No Life.

See YOUR END (Foresight).

Find YOUR PURPOSE (Insight).

Live YOUR LIFE (Focus).

You only have one life. Its no dress rehearsal. Don’t live it like that road-kill. Find your purpose, before its too late…. Before your daily 86,400 seconds stop ticking.

Tick, tock, tick, tock. Its your life. Write your story the best way you can: with purpose.

Become increasingly aware … take actions (sufficient & appropriate) and adapt accordingly.
My Triple A to self – development.

Find YOU.
Find clarity.
Find Life.

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Managing your funnel better

Less abdominal fat is not only poses less health risks for you, it gives you a more aesthetically pleasing physique. Knowing what ‘to leave out’ in your diet is vital to achieving a tight mid-section

Friends for life.

I’ve met a lot of intelligent people in my life, the smartest person (Intelligent and wise) I have met (thus far) passed away earlier this year at 82.

We were friends for about four and half years or so. I considered a friend for life. You know the type, I hope you’ve got a few friends that you can honestly look at and say, yes, you are a friend for life.

Our friendship lasted for just over four years.

We had all the characteristics of good friendship – honesty, trust, care, inter-dependence, willingness to provide a shoulder to lean on when one needs help, forgiveness and a genuine desire to help the other become a better person.

I miss my friend. A lot.

One of my good old friends at the gym

Opportunities disguised as challenges

He taught me much and I, him. We shared. Stories. I was fascinated with his stories of life. Not necessarily his life, but life in general, in particular where he saw ‘opportunities’ and others saw ‘challenges’.

Guess who got the rewards? Yep, “nothing risked, nothing gained”, he would tell me. Made me realise that life was a big exercise in “Risk Management” … but I won’t go in to that right now, it can be a topic for later.

Retired Ex-Australian Wallaby & Waratah’s Captain – Phil Waugh doing triceps press-downs and “feeling the essence” with perfectly performed repetitions.
A great example of a human being striving to be the BEST he can be – for himself, first and then, everyone else. All day. Every day.
If he can, so can you using my framework.

Work hard at adding life in to your years, not just life to your years

Back to my dear friend … I saw him 3 times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays) between 10:30 & 12 noon, in my gym – for our usual chats and his exercise. We had an arrangement: he listens and follows everything I say to keep him alive and I get an hour coffee and mentorship every Friday morning after his session with me.

Having only six months to live (as told to him by his doctors), my good old friend lived for another four years. He took care of the little mosquitoes, the daily habits and this along with other factors helped him live longer.

I got him to work on his breathing, sense of balance, strength, agility and keeping the ‘whole body’ in mind. The usual services that a typical gym owner and manager would provide.

Basically, make him exert enough effort to his skeletal and smooth muscles, to help make his daily activities just that little bit easier and more pleasant – like walking, walking up stairs, carrying shopping bags, doing a little gardening and breathing better.

He certainly lived a long life, but he was more interested in adding “Life to his years”, in the years I had known him.

 

Choose what to leave out – choose wisely

He was so diligent in his approach to exercise that he came in for a workout on his 80th birthday. He sat on the reclining stationary bike to warm up and I got everyone in the gym to sing ‘happy birthday’ and cheered ‘Hip hip, hooray!!’.

I think he enjoyed the attention.

One of my favourites – the Most Muscular pose.
Circa 2007.

After the singing, we started our chat and I thought I’d ask him in honour of his 80th birthday what was the one thing he could share with me that he learned in his last 40 years that he hadn’t known in his first 40 years. He stopped pedalling for a few seconds, looked up to the gym ceiling and said …

“Work on being a master of your funnel, Paul!”, he yelled whilst catching his breath.

“Don’t stop cycling, mate, keep those legs pumping!” I said

  • “Don’t think, answering my question gives you permission to stop moving.”

He smiled, gave me a look, and happily continued.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “What funnel?”

He called out, over the music in the gym, “I learned how to cut out more bul#@it in my life, Paul!”

This was very interesting, coming from a man who had a huge part of his career in advertising and strategy, advising large companies on selling. Matter of fact he ran a company that employed 200+ people, which he successfully sold along with another business he started after that.

He had also acted as adviser to some of the most prominent businessmen Australia had ever seen. One such high wealth individual he advised for more than thirty years was Australia’s Richest Man at one stage – Mr Kerry Packer.

This retired friend of mine did alright for himself.

Attitude is key at winning in the Game of Life.

Rid your life of ‘stuff’

He then proceeded to say that in life, we get bombarded with so much ‘stuff’, and now more than ever, due to the proliferation of the various media types, one has to be more diligent in ‘policing’ the many sensory stimulants entering our minds through what we see, hear, who we talk to and the groups we mix with.

We have to exercise vigilance in self-regulating behaviour, in particular, with regards to the impact exposure to all this modern-day living ‘stuff’ (or in his words “bul#$@it”) has on you.

A lot of this ‘stuff’ does not really have any place in your life, and really does not in the whole scope of life. We have 86,400 seconds in a day. Use those seconds wisely.

Try this suggestion; Limit your television viewing to stimulating, special shows. If you make television watching a habit, you can become narrow-minded, tunnel vision sets in and creative imagination will vanish. All the better if you can record or download them and watch when it fits your schedule instead of someone else’s.

See how you feel in 1 week.

A famous company slogan goes something like this …. “Life is short”… we could all heed the advice from my wise friend and assess how well you are using your own funnels in sieving out the irrelevant ‘crap’ from your lives NOW … not 40 years from now.

Maybe, just maybe, we will not only add years to our life … but more importantly, LIFE TO OUR YEARS!

 

Choose wisely … & have fun,

 

Cheers & ahoy!

 

The old Cap’n Viking Pirate … & cutting out more bullshit from your life

Learning from the best at something, to be your best is the quickest way to get to where you’re going.
No one can teach you what they don’t know.

Explaining the fine points of re-engineering the physique and increased self-awareness through enhanced ‘mind-muscle’ connection..

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