This is a guest article by my friend Dr. Pedram Shojai, O.M.D. Recently I sat down with Pedram, affectionately known as “The Urban Monk”, and we talked about how to deal with the challenging problem of finding balance. You can check out the full video interview here.
So many people I’ve worked with over the years have trouble sticking to their resolutions. They commit to a diet and fail. They join a gym and stop going. They say they’re done with cigarettes and then the stress overwhelms them back into a habit they hate.
Why does this happen?
Have we run out of willpower? Is it in such short supply that we are doomed to bail on everything? Can we not take a stand for anything we deem important to us?
The answer is a resounding NO!
The problem is that most people do not understand the “Anatomy of Consciousness” and, therefore, keep making the same mistakes in life. They push through and “spend” their willpower, repeatedly failing at things and “proving” to themselves that they can’t do it. Repeated failure reinforces a belief system that we are failures.
This is not the case but again, none of us were taught how to tap into our personal power. We try to push the boulder up hill and find ourselves exhausted and out of energy. In fact, most people are in “enthusiasm bankruptcy” nowadays. After all, how many times must you fail at something before you throw in the towel and accept being overweight or “week”?
I studied with the Dalai Lama. I traveled the world as a Taoist monk and learned meditation, qi gong, tai chi, yoga, kung fu, and anything else I could find that helped me. I learned about the Anatomy of Consciousness and applied it to my daily life successfully. People often ask me what my secret is and I’ve taken it for granted that I learned something very powerful in all of my travels…something I’ve been teaching students and patients over the past few years with amazing results.
The key is that most of us try to push our willpower or INTENTION without locking in our focus or ATTENTION first.
Ready, Fire, and maybe Aim…that’s where most people live and that’s why they never hit the mark.
Learning to focus in on what your goals and priorities are and then making a definitive plan that helps you get there is key. Most people don’t understand that the word “no” is very powerful. By me agreeing to meet the guys for a bite tonight, I’m effectively saying “no” to my family, my workout, my sleep, and the book I’ve been meaning to read. Most of us impulsively say “yes” to too many things which crowds our “Life Garden” with too many plants to water and far too many weeds.
If your willpower was the “water” you had to nourish the few plants in your garden, then where is it going? Are you feeding too many plants? Are you unaware of the weeds in your garden that are sucking off your life force?
The answer for most people is yes. We bleed our Vitality into scattered dreams and a hectic schedule. We then try to push through with more willpower but that tank is usually running on empty. We are all sick and tired of being tired.
The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. The way out is in.
Learning to meditate and gain clarity is the first stop. After that there are specific practices that help enhance Vitality and bring up our personal power. Over the years, I’ve learned to work both sides of that equation for people and seen amazing results.
The key is to wake up to what we’re doing and gain clarity before we move in life. From there, there are lots of time management tricks that can help us get more efficient. From there, we can adjust our lifestyle to get more energy out of our cells.
What can you do with more energy? A lot if you’re focused. Most people will squander it though because they have no “Life Mastery System” to help them navigate.
I invite you to check out an amazing program we’ve developed. It is designed to walk you through a step by step program that teaches you how to optimize your energy, gain clarity, raise your willpower, and operate more efficiently in life. Our graduates are having life transforming experiences and its all because we are putting themback in the driver’s seat.
Jump in and feel like you’re in control of your life again. Get clear and get the life you want.
Pedram Shojai, OMD
Founder- Well.Org
Author- “Rise and Shine”
Producer – “Vitality” and “Origins”
