Investment in Excellence - Course

[Danielle La Belle]

Unit 11

Affirmations and Visualization


In this session we begin the “tool box” for personal growth and change. The how-to-information for affirming and visualizing, which is the key to this entire course.

We train pilots with flight simulators. By doing so, we establish within the pilot the required information and process to actually pilot that particular aircraft. Always a handy concept anytime, If you remember as a child first riding a bicycle and falling off skinning your elbow, knee or both. You can see why we would not want to send someone into a commercial airplane without adequate pre-flight training.

Affirmations are the words that trigger pictures and images that bring about the right emotion and feeling. They are your on going flight training everyday as you safely navigate your life.

No mumbo jumbo, no rituals, or secret formula, no dependency element in any of it. When you finish this course, you will be your own leader, your own person, and you will control your own thoughts.

What we are getting close to is the ability to write out our goals properly – so that when you imprint and visualize these goals you will make changes that you want in your belief system. This will be a controlled change, under your own direction.

When you visualized being married, your were drawn in that direction: you got creative to make that marriage happen. When you were in the sixth grade, you visualized being in the seventh grade and you were ready to attach it! As a child, In November you looked forward to the holidays – visualizing and you could hardly wait for those days to come.

Here you will learn how to control your goal-setting through deliberate self-talk, imagery and visualization. We are working from the inside out – where all meaningful and lasting change begins!

If you do not think that this is going to work consider your current situation in life. You got there by “believing yourself there.” That’s right! Through this mental process you have managed to get this far. It is just that you did not think about it before. It all seemed so natural and you were lead by others into what to think and act on.

Now, you are guiding yourself using the same principles that have worked on all humans through all time. We are not creating something new in the ways of a mental system. It is already in place and for that matter, has led you to read and follow this course.

Like the pilot, you make deliberate preparation for a predetermined outcome.

You program all those kinds of skills and attitudes and techniques into your subconscious and practice it with imagery. You lean toward what you visualize for yourself. You become what you think about. At this point let me personalize this lecture for our forum.

You become what you think about…. CD.!!!

Affirmations are words that trigger pictures or images in the brain. Bra, skirt, blouse. See! These most likely just triggered images that you have stored. Said often enough, it may even trigger action by you to go and change into your CD mode.

Words are powerful! They cause us to generate images in our brain that we act on! If you doubt this then keep in mind what advertising is all about. Jingles and pictures in your brain that just do not go away. That you act on!

This same technique can be orchestrated by you for your benefit in goal setting. You can become the advertiser and present an image that you want to act on. Repeating this just as McDonald’s or Burger King or Wendy’s does to you every day. You will act on what you see most!

Remember, you cannot observe others and imprint the picture of yourself. If imagery were that simple, ghetto dwellers could come away from their TV sets and be successful. There is more to imagery than that. Affirmations must be written to trigger the imagery.

You were taught in grade school by having you write things down. By doing so, the brain stored them for use later in life. Just seeing images alone is not enough. The brain is designed to observe images all day long and not act on them.

You can override your current picture of yourself. Change the picture and your new performance becomes automatic, effortless, natural and free-flowing. It becomes easy to act like you – the picture you have of yourself.

“The road to mediocrity is paved with good intentions.” So if the you use words in your self-talk, in your affirmations, that are flat and unconvincing, they are worthless. I am talking about the spirit behind the word! It will be the intent and the power and the meaning behind the word that will make the difference in you. It takes the real, deliberate, spiritual intent behind the word to affect our belief system.

All your well meaning goals and intentions are garbage without the spirit behind them. It is your spirit, your power, your belief behind your goal that will imprint and change you.

Over your lifetime you have made decisions to change and failed. Resolutions at New Years, long forgotten.

Write down your age in 2000 and of each family member. Make a second column dated 2005 and do the same. Make another column and date it 2010. Fill in the ages for each listed member. One more column dated 2020 and fill in the ages. Time is just flying by isn’t it. You will be in the year 2020 in just 13 more years seeing that it is now 2007. WOW!

For me:

Self 72

Spouse 69

SON 49

DIL 48

GChild -1 24

GChild – 2 21

GChild – 3 15

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Danielle Marie
[/b]

[Danielle La Belle]

Unit 12 A+B:
Affirmations


So far, all you had to do was read for the most part. Yes, there have been questions at the end of each assignment for you to ponder and if the mood stuck you, to write them down on an informal tablet with your answers and ideas.

This UNIT, titled “Affirmations,” gets into the details, the real blueprint, that effect growth and change. This session gives you the necessary, practical, but simple, rules for visualization and imprinting. How to write affirmations; how to set goals; how to imprint and how to visualize yourself into the “now.”

You are going to execute each affirmation, each visualization as though the end result is happening right at this moment. Words, pictures and feelings are stressed here to help speed your process of imprinting.


To make a change of any kind in your life, you must first change your “Self-talk.” Visualization is not new; it is part of a child’s life as well as an adult’s. Imagery is a natural part of a persons total life process. For the most part, this is as practical as balancing your checkbook.

Example:

Goal = To improve my relations with others.

Affirmation = I am warm and friendly toward all I contact; I treat everyone with consideration and respect.

After writing out your affirmation, the next step is imprinting. Imprinting means to take deliberate control of the direction of those changes you want to make. With vivid imagery, you can bring about the end result on the subconscious level. I x V = R; (Imagination x vividness = reality).

Step One: Read the goal (the affirmation).
Step Two: Vividly picture the end result.
Step three: Feel the emotion that goes with the accomplishment of your goal.

Repeat this imprinting several times a day. Just like doing a physical exercise to increase muscle and tone over time, you will adopt what you think about most.

You have perhaps done this before in the form of a “New Year’s Resolution,” only to fail soon after. That is because you did not take control. Consider using the auto-pilot on a boat. Simply grabbing the “steering wheel” will not make permanent change. We must change the auto pilot – our subconscious picture.

Writing Affirmations

1. Personal: You can only affirm yourself.
2. Positive: Do not describe what you are trying to move away from. For example: “I’m no longer lazy,” but rather put it into a positive statement like “I am energetic.” This will trigger the picture of the change you desire over time.
3. Present Tense: Now is the only time frame, not someday or tomorrow.
4. Indicate achievement: I am and I have, not I can should be used. Your are better than you think!
5. No comparisons: You may become discouraged by measuring yourself against others. Do not use “as good as,” or “better than.” I am this person.
6. Action words: “I enjoy,” “I love too,” “I thrive on,” and “I show.”
7. Emotion words: Try to put as much excitement into your affirmations that you can. Create for yourself, “fun, happiness, accomplishment and joy.” Give yourself credit for doing this.
8. Accuracy: Only affirm as high as you can honestly imagine. Be realistic. Do not set yourself up to fail.
9. Balance: Be consistent. Balance is the key. Pick one area of your life and one concept. Stick with it. As you see change happening for you, then, adopt another.
10. Realistic: Do not try to affirm perfection. No one is perfect. We are all just human. Do not berate yourself. Mistakes happen.
11. Keep to yourself: Your personal affirmations should be for yourself only because people may constantly try to remind you of your “old self-image picture” of yourself. People around you may get upset with you when you start changing and growing. If we reveal our personal goals and affirmations to others, it allows them to work against us and very often causes us to press to get our goals accomplished. Reveal your affirmations only to those that really need to know them and whom can help you realize them more quickly.

Sample Affirmations

01. I like and respect myself. I know I am a worthy, capable and valuable person.
02. I enjoy my life, my profession, and my relationships with other people.
03. I have a variety of interest in life.
04. I enjoy taking calculated risks to improve.
05. I am logical and decisive in making important decisions.
06. I am an action person; I do first things first and one thing at a time.
07. I quietly do helpful and worthwhile things for others.
08. I am very effective and efficient, especially in stressful situations.
09. I look for ways of pulling my self and others up.
10. I show great concern for other’s feelings.

You cannot exercise once a week and expect to see results. You live 24 hours every day so everyday you will need to practice your current goal/affirmation until you see results in your behavior. You will! I know that you can do this! You have been doing this most of your life in one form or another. Now you are taking control with a deliberate statement to implement a positive change that will benefit you for a lifetime.

Go for it! Visualize yourself in the now as this person.

Hugs

Danielle Marie[/b]

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Girls:

I want to step in here for a minute to update you on my progress in this course.

I have been actually doing this course again as I provide it to this forum. It is never really easy to confront our fears and actions that we may find repulsive, difficult or even dangerous at times.

It is far easier to just stay the course and avoid change all together. I too have been down that road more than once. For those that are reading this course material, , good for you! I have over the years made many changes in my life that I can directly contribute to the concepts, ideas and training inside of this course.

I have read over the years that for many, they will try something once and if they fail, never do it again. With practice, they may have gotten much better, even profesional at their attempts. But, one try was all they had in them.

Easier to fall back on old ways than to try to make changes. Absolutely no one person can ever tell you with certainty what is best for you. It is an individual's choice and can only be made by that individual. I trust that there has been material worth reading here for you!

The next section will be installed by Sunday Night.... 05-27-07...Sorry for the delay, this next unit is in 4 parts and deserves additional effort as I am as well doing this course in "real time."

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Danielle La Belle]

Unit 13 A+B+C+D

Section A:

First and foremost…..

“You become what you think about all day long.” Why is Joe or Joan a plumber? Discounting all the variables from childhood etc, Joan is a plumber because she truly believes that she is a plumber. She completed her training, purchased a truck and plumbing tools and on a daily basis, acts out the role of a plumber as she knows it to be by attending to the plumbing business. Joan has no desire to change. A plumber she is and she is a plumber. Simple! No, not really that simple but Joan is not about to change unless she changes what she believes about herself. Her daily self-talk reinforces her belief in being a plumber and by acting on this reinforcement, she continues her self-talk supporting the role of plumber. She therefore is a plumber by any measurable standard.

There is nothing that you cannot change about yourself if you are willing and want the change bad enough. Sounds okay, but we both know, there are restrictions to this statement. Even over time, some change is either not physically possible, or practical for your situation. I could do all that I can to become President of the USA, but in reality, I do not have and will not have the necessary political base for such a distinction. I am a realist. I know my limits within the confines of the current social structure that I live within. But, that does not mean that I cannot set some reasonable goals that are obtainable.

Often people try to change too much at once. They set goals that are too high and know that they are unobtainable from the beginning. They set themselves up for failure and do this rather often. They become accustomed to failure and not getting what they think they want. They live in a cycle of failure.

In our previous session we opened the tool box – the proven, reliable tools to growth and enhancement in all areas of your life. I x V = R; Imagination times Vividness equals Reality. Words, creating a clear picture, which brings on emotion, become your new “Reality” on the subconscious level. If you write your Affirmations out correctly, then every time you go through the next process – that of imprinting – you are recording on the subconscious level, with experiential imagery, as though the event is actually happening to you.

This mental picture is of virtual importance. Like the car commercial which slides the camera behind the wheel so it appears to the viewer that they are driving the car. Your mind perceives the outcome of an accident as the view shows you heading into a brick wall. You sense the tension, the inevitable crash, the impact, the jolting, jostling action of the car coming to a sudden stop.

All of that you experience on many levels. Your heart is pumping, racing, the director of the movie has been successful in bringing his audience into the movie via this type of action and camera point of view. You employed your subconscious and conscious means of thinking to convince yourself you were in the action. We do this all the time and often, act accordingly.

Perhaps you have been going along with the director too long. It is time for you to write the script. To direct, write, and act the part that you want.

Experiential Imagery – this is what we want!

Write your affirmations with clarity and detail. Read the words, imagine the event happening, feel the emotion. Once again; read the words, close your eyes, imagine the event – visually experience it – and feel the emotion. 15 – 20 seconds is long enough, about 30 times each day.


Section B:

Affirmations and Intent…..


The power of words, also the weakness of words are discussed. Words, mindlessly repeated lose their power and become debased. So the reemphasis here is on the absolute necessity for meaningful clarity in words, as they apply to effective affirmations. Thus it is the words used in affirming must have behind them a true spirit of integrity and intent; mindless repetition may only imply doubt in your own mind. In addition, it is pointed out that affirming your own worthiness of a desired goal can help build your own esteem and confidence.

When you speak your affirmations daily, it is a wise thing that you focus on them, use them with meaningful clarity, give them spirit and integrity and sincerity – for you are using them to manage changes you choose to make in your belief system. Let me add that men and women in “sales,” use similar tactics to better themselves and to stimulate daily interest in their sales tasks.

With affirmations well-written, with visualization and emotion, you may say much sooner than you think. “It’s done with, it’s over.” Why go on repeating? You may only imply doubt in yourself. Affirm to yourself that you are worthy of whatever it is that you want. “Yes, I am worthy. Yes, I can get that degree. Yes, I can run that department. Yes, I can go out and make a career.”

Worthiness. That is what this section is about. Your worthiness to attain what you know you need to do.

01. Make a list of activities that you have been postponing. Then write an affirmation to act on that activity or goal. (Do you really want to do them?)
02. Make a list of activities that you always do eagerly and first. Why are they easy?
03. Where do I feel like an outside observer in life?
04. How active a participant am I?
05. Where do I find myself in contemplation only?



Section C:

Affirmations and Comfort Zones…..

Some attitudes and habits in our society undergo constant change. We can choose to change with them. Such as clothing styles, hair styles, and other social choices that fluctuate with the accepted current cultural behaviors. Do you remember when boys began wearing their hair long? At the time, we thought that society was going to the dogs. We lived through this change in style and behavior and today some older men now wear long hair. In fact, today, some parents might throw their children out of the house if they came home with a crew cut of yesteryear.

So change is always with us. Recently, an article in “Forbes Magazine” touted a small machine shop company as breaking the mold and surviving the downturn in services needed by forming a relationship with a large auto manufacturer. Today, standards of dress are as different as they were 30 years ago and beyond. That is because we adopt certain styles and struggle to let go as they fade from view with new designs taking their place. “Out with the old, in with the new.” Long understood as a means to propel the capitalist economy forward.

This all speaks well of our “comfort zones.” We become comfortable with our job, our family, our culture, then, perhaps with some warning, things take a change and we are left at the rear of the line. Not as updated as our employer would like. We appear out of touch to those around us. We struggle with this new change. We feel, “out of our comfort zone.”

There was a time when we would work for one company, perhaps 30 – 40 years and then retire. We maintained a relationship with one organization and it’s principles and processes. We developed a strong comfort zone with the employer. This often worked well when the employer was dominant in their area of expertise, thus affording them a “corporate comfort zone.” Because the European manufacturing base was decimated during World War II, The United States, was afforded a unique opportunity to sell and distribute their goods and services unabated until the 1970’s.

“Comfort zones” come in many shapes and sizes. Replacing your comfort zones with new ones can be a real chore for most people. That is where affirmations come in to play. If faced with change, one merely designs an affirmation that places emphasis on your willingness to change with the times. No one leaves this planet with anything physical in tow. You can always sell your home and buy another. You can always, move to a new city or town and take on a new and rewarding job. You can always make new friends. Age should be without limits. Each challenge is a new opportunity to try out new things and new ideas. “To go where no person has gone before!”

01. What do I expect from my current job?
02. What do I expect of my family?
03. What do I expect of myself?
04. What do I really want out of life?
05. What new comfort zones do I desire?
06. Do I have a plan or is “my plan” not to have a plan?
07. Where am I going?
08. What do I want to accomplish?



Section D:

Flick Back Technique…..


The bookshelves are full of self-help books. I have read many myself over the years. What I have noticed from all this reading is that while I may not have directly made any change immediately, it has been beneficial over my lifetime in forging my personality and belief system to new levels that otherwise would not have taken place. I would still today have the mind set of my early to mid-twenties. I would have aged chronologically but not mentally. I would have grown older but not wiser. So there has been growth and from this, challenges that I have met head on. Some I won and some I lost. Some I get another day to try again. None the less, I have been better for it.

In this segment we learn how to “borrow” a positive experience from the past the achieve a desired goal. This is called the “flick back/flick up” technique, one which helps you to prepare emotionally for a predetermined outcome you wish. One needs only to recall, vividly, a warm, successful episode from the past, and apply it to a forthcoming event or challenge. The “flick back/flick up” technique is one used by many high-performance people.

Remember, you are the sum of all the things that you perceive has happened to you up to this time. Remembering back say in third grade, a proud, warm feeling that I had as a child, and drop it right into this new situation. That is “flick back,” and in the present, “flick up.” Simple! Yes! You can do this! If you say that my life has been one big downer after another, I say, think! Everyone has special moments no matter how short lived that they can remember and rely on. It may have been some time since you looked back at your youth. Take a few minutes, find a quiet place and see what you can remember. Sometimes a scrap book or photos will jog the memory and ZAP, an old memory is revived. One that you can bring forward into the now with pride, as many football players do. They call up in their mind a picture of an emotional victory for example. They see this in their mind as they play out the game. These are high performance individuals that you read about in the sports section of your favorite newspaper or favorite WEB page on the internet. They lock out disappointing, defeating times of their life and project themselves into the new challenge with emotions of success and joy.

They have a positive expectancy about them. The car dealer owner that is always optimistic that his salesman will meet their quotas by Thursday, not waiting until Friday to make their week. You talk with these people and it is their enthusiasm, that very drive that has put them where they are. Not just a salesman, but the owner and entrepreneur of the business. They sit at the head of the table for every meal/deal.

01. What positive experiences could I use in my “flick back/flick up” technique?
02. What was my best year; best Summer; best Winter; best Fall.




Section E:

Resiliency…..

Resiliency, as defined in this segment, means the ability to bounce back after a defeat or disappointment. It is a quality shared by all high-performance people. Affirmations can make you a resilient person over time.

“I have a positive expectancy of winning big, and I take all setbacks as temporary.” “I am willing to accept the risk of defeat in order to achieve what I want.” What I am saying is that you can visualize, through affirmations, bouncing back from a hit. You build up a quality inside you that says, in effect, “Nothing can hold me back from a desired end result that I have locked onto.


01. What cause me to give up on a goal?
02. Where am I a resilient person?
03. Where can I use improvement?
04. In what areas of my life do I feel I need to increase my confidence?
05. Who do I turn to when I feel depressed?
06. How would I judge my will to win?
07. What is the real source of my positive attitudes?



Notes: If you are serious about making change, you will do it. You can read 100 self-help books and all you will have done is read 100 self-help books. But, none the less, you did read them and there are ideas afloat in your mind because of that. What I have learned is this. I have 100 years or less to do, see, and be what I want. After that, without any guarantee of any after life, my time will be done here. I have not met anyone that has come back from the dead. Yes, a few are alive to tell about a short time period when they on the medical operating table died and came back. But, we do not really know if they went any where in the first place. We only know that life support as we know it was not working. The body had stopped.

My point is, no matter what you believe on this subject, you are going to die as we know it. Soon enough no doubt because there is never a good time to die. Our time clock started running when we first let out our first cry in the delivery room. It has not stopped yet for those reading this. But it will! Time waits for no woman! Do or die! Die and do! It is all up to YOU!

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Girls:

There are many books and courses that address the concept that we "create our own life, therefore we are responsible for it." I agree! Anything that I do not like about my life I can change when I am willing. Even in extreme cases, we still have the ability to make changes. The question is, "when will we follow through." (?).

All in good time my dear reader, all in good time. Change is a personal perception as it is a personal choice. I myself have made many changes in my life to both suit others as well as myself and my own needs of the time.

Look back at your older pictures? How far have you come? What are the changes? Are you working a plan or is "time," working you? Never enough time!

The next installment will be forth coming by next Wednesday , 06-27-07. Review the previous entries and your personal note book. The most critical elements are already posted and you can start any changes that you desire by now. Change will happen with you or not. The world keeps turning and people around you change. Permanent change requires a full-time effort on your part.

Sorry! Running a little late on this as usual. What can ya expect for free?

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Danielle La Belle]

Unit 14

Teleological Nature of Man (all inclusive).


Main Entry:tel£e£o£log£i£cal
Pronunciation:*te-l*-*-*l*-ji-k*l, *t*-
Variant:also tel£e£o£log£ic \-*l*-jik\
Function:adjective
Date:1798

: exhibiting or relating to design or purpose especially in nature; - adverb


Man as a living mechanism, is goal oriented. We talk about goal setting, that we need an idea, a picture, a “target,” to see. Without this target or goal, life as we know it barely exists in any substantive way. Goals or targets, are an essential part of our existence. It is also true that without goals, a company or an organization will die. A group system, no less than the human system, must constantly be seeking out new targets, new goals. A department, a company, a club or civic entity needs goals to survive and grow. We all need to define our goals, imprint them, visualize them, move toward them and your teleological mechanism will do the rest.

This session and the next few units contain a video provided by the training company. I am unable to replicate such a video here on the forum. These remaining units will then be a shortened version, highlighting the video content and theme of the units premise.

The “creative subconscious” process has four functions. We have so far discussed three.

A. Maintenance of sanity.
B. Solving and resolving of conflicts.
C. Creative drive and energy.
D. The teleological nature of man.

The last function [D.], is what we are considering now. By teleological we mean, once again, that you must have an end result – a target – programmed into this mechanism. “A human being without goals is depriving him/her self of their life force – a reason for being.”

We are all managers! We manage ourselves. “I” incorporated. if you will. What are you doing to manage yourself? What do you tell yourself? What do you act on? An example is called for here:

I purchased a new Black & Decker iron for my laundry work at home. A model (D2030) iron. It was not in stores locally, so I ordered it via the on-line appliance store, http://www.bdappliancestore.com.

This particular iron was rated highly by over 700 users ( 4 of 5 stars). I studied the specifications and compared to others and found that it was as close to an industrial iron as I wanted to pay for. Also, rather than trust other on-line stores I decided to pay the additional $12.00 over advertised prices and get it fresh from the company store.

I also found that the Wal-Mart had such an iron but that it was coded with a different model number, D-5000 and with a little further investigation, found that it was a light-weight model by B&D. Not the same as the heavier more highly rated model that I purchased. Even though the Wal-Mart model used the code name “Digital Advantage,” I found that B&D had several lower priced models using the same “introduction,” but certainly not the same grade of iron as the (D2030) that I purchased.

I managed my money, my investment, my thinking to arrive at what for all intensive purposes appears to be the right decision from my point of view. As the saying goes, “I did my homework” before making my purchase. Yes, there are other manufacturers that make a quality product. But, with all the available data, this made the best sense to me and I am satisfied that I made the best purchase to suit my particular needs.

Whenever practical, I use this approach to buying insurance, cars, appliances, etc. I manage the available information. I set my goals as to what I want to accomplish, time frame, cost. I follow through by not allowing myself to dwell on data. I make a decision and adjust accordingly. Had I made a purchase that I was not satisfied with, I would manage my experience and move on.

We have all had good and bad purchases. Some stay with us for a very long time. We live with what we have done. Some purchases reinforce our trust in ourselves. Others, make us question why we ever did that! In the end, we manage our time, our money, our selves in a manner that reflects on how well we follow through and make decisions.

Our teleological self moves forward and becomes what we think about most. Have you ever observed someone that runs a business. That is what they think about most. The most successful people often make a trade between family, friends and business. The trick is to keep things in balance. To administer your time so that that each group is not neglected.

This is a great deal to accomplish and most of us find that someone or something always seems to suffer at our entrepreneurial hands. We openly complain that it cannot be done, while, a magazine such as “Inc.,” will sponsor a highly successful “super man or woman” that seems to manage everything. Successful, high-performance people manage their time and the demands on it. They seem to effortlessly manage to integrate all the group variables and keep an even keel on their ships horizon. It can make us average people feel small and insignificant.

That is why we set goals and targets. So that we can feel successful even if only in the moment. It keeps us moving forward and that keeps us on track to building a lasting future that we are the master of!

Questions:

01. What things would contribute to my peace of mind?
02. Where have I delayed my progress by giving away my choice.
03. Where do I want to go?
04. Where have I left this up to someone else?
05. What is the general picture of my overall situation right now?


One last example.

I am self-employed. There are many variables in my business that I have little control over. I am subject to the whim and fancy of each and everyone that I work for. Each client is my “new boss.” I have little time to learn of their personal specific personality or needs. When I am called, it is because there is a problem that the office staff cannot resolve and people expect immediate response coupled with an immediate solution. I refer to “computers, computer software/hardware and computer networks for small businesses.

What if I ceased all advertising. Disconnecting my telephones and fax machine to further the dilemma. What would the obvious results of taking these actions. No Business! No money! No life as I currently know it! So my life depends on my ability to manage my day-to-day responsibilities. To take action when and where necessary to insure my continued ability to make a living. Any choices that I make contrary to this end, effect my bottom line and the ability to meet my financial and social (family) needs, obligations and interests.



Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Tekla]

Sorry, all of that is new age hokum. Want to invest in excellence? Get a library card and a list of the 1,000 greatest books of all time (does not matter which one, they all agree on at least 900 of them) and read them. Then follow that in your life. Once upon a time it was not called "an investment in excellence" it was called "a liberal arts" degree.

[Danielle La Belle]

Hi Girls:

Within this particular thread, there really have been few responses to the material. I do get emails that basically are positive. A few feel as [Tekla], that there are other ways to pursue this course.

Yes, Tekla, the library and all of it’s books are a great source of data. Going to College or University and getting a degree are another and as a whole are better recognized in the business world. Being worldly, is half of the success equation I have found.

We get on average 100 years to test our metal here in this physical world. What we do with our 100 years is up to us. How we use that time, how we participate in our local social structure and what we do perhaps for others as well as ourselves is what’s really important.

The principle author and company founder that developed the materials in this thread took several years from his high school coaching experience to generate the final manual. Certainly, many people before and after him will write alternate ideas and objectives. That is part of the human process and should be expected.

I find in my studies that those of the opinion that responsibility, management, self-respect, and other personal traits that we often associate with a successful person are accepted, they become what they believe in. They reflect those traits that we all wish that we too could emulate.

Have you ever envisioned how you might look in a particular outfit and then went and acted on that vision by making a purchase. Then, with grand excitement, going home to try it on, only to see that it was not quite up to your expectations. First you saw yourself in this new outfit. You have a mental picture, even if for only a second or two. Your subconscious was working to make the pieces fit so you could identify with the clothing.

My point here is, just because some model was wearing it and looked great, does not mean it is going to fit me and render the same result. The material in this thread, presents ideas that are eons old. Some even biblical in nature I suppose. None the less, they have been employed by man for centuries. All we are doing here is calling attention to that information.

For a person to go and just read without any direction, they too will find that they have a plethora of new information to digest but, not the tools to put it to use. This course in a nutshell presents the tools that one can use to make use of your very good idea. I have always said, “if one were to go to the library and camp out until they have read every book, they would be that more knowledgeable, but on the same token, computers collect information in massive quantities and they are not provided with the tools to take advantage of said information.” How would we implement what we had read if the tools are not there for us to act accordingly?

In this thread I reserve judgment for those that read the material and then, without a notation, take advantage of the tools they now have for a better life. It is typical that one would like feedback on same. But, for me, the material is enough. The implementation and use is up to each reader. The tools are here.

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Danielle La Belle]

Final installment:

08-12-07 Sunday Night...
Sorry about the delay. You have the bigger piece of the program at this time already posted here. If, you are still waiting for an answer, re-read the material. Re-consider the concept and do not expect miracles. Things take time as one might expect to get better. You have spent the better part of your life perhaps beating up on yourself. Old wounds and practices take time to heal and change. Not everyone will benefit from this information. If I get 10 out of 1,000 to implement this material it is considered a success. "Many are called, few are chosen."

"Old habits die hard. It is easier to lead a horse to water than it is to get her to drink. Thoughts are things."

Hugs

Danielle Marie

[Danielle La Belle]

Unit 15 …… Final Installment

Environmental comfort zones.

We seek our environmental comfort zone no matter where we are in the world. People join with tour groups so they are with people of a similar culture. The U.S. Military around the world, provides its soldiers with Americanized bases so as to create a theme of a recognizable atmosphere from home.

Nothing is wrong with this idea. But, it limits adventure and inhibits change and growth. Comfort zones put us into mental prisons of our own making. New equipment, new methods, changing the furniture or rearranging the seating in an office cubicle without first providing visualization meets with resistance.

All meaningful and lasting change starts in the inside and works its way out. Microwave ovens pretty much have the same effect. The next time you turn one on, observe that the outside of the object may not change right away, but the inside, is changing rapidly. A bake potato is a good example of how things first happen on the inside and work their way out.

Visualize first, see yourself in the new position, the new office area, you can then leave your own mental prison that was built around your previous surroundings. Changing jobs, divorce, marriage, children. These articles are all part of the environmental comfort zone that you have built over time, one change (brick) at a time.

I have repeatedly said this and will again; you get maybe 100 years and then you are gone for a far greater period of time. Life really is short when you tune in to the bigger picture. It is so short that even now, time is running out while we examine this idea. You have the foundation from this course to build a new tomorrow for you and your family. This program is often offered to members of the immediate family by the hosting company (your employer).

There are those that thrive on change. Those that seem to thrive on making change for others, whether they want it or not. You know that type of person that I am talking about. They are the managers of our society. They have been charged with making things happen in their department of which you are an employee (member). Often, a memo is sent out that outlines changes that have been made, that are to be made or that are being considered. In any case, you were not consulted first or last.

Your comfort zone is about to be attacked by none other than the very hand that feeds you. If you were in a zoo like environment (some are), you might respond by attacking your handler. The one that provides the food and water that you need so desperately. It is not that uncommon in the animal world for such things to happen when humans begin to think that they have the ultimate power and discretion to make changes at will.

Your comfort zone is being challenged at times, on a regular basis. Someone that has no specific roots in a job might not find it such a problem. But, for most of us, mandated change is the only way we are going to change to adapt to an already changing environment, the global community.

If things are not what we think they should be, it is up to us to make change before changes are mandated upon us. Comfort zones can be prisons of our own making. To my knowledge, we cannot stay here any longer than when we are called. It is our nature that as we age we look for comfort in our place of existence that we call home.

Our insistence that where we are is what we are and what we do is whom we are, leads us to the need for change every so often to tame the “changing beast” that lurks around every corner of change. The opportunities are out there, not in your bedroom or living room. They are outside the door of your home for the most part (excluding those that are at-home workers), here is to you…..to finding that place that makes you feel complete.

…………………………………………………………….

Hugs………………

Danielle Marie La Belle….

[Danielle La Belle]

Additional Thoughts that are not part of the Original IE Course.


Hi Girls:

There are 3 types of “belief system.”

Type One: mostly dogma, indoctrination, and controlling beliefs.

Type Two: common sense beliefs.

Type Three: scientific, fact-supported beliefs.



First, what does it mean to believe? If you trace the word back to its roots you’ll find that it means “to be comfortable with or satisfied with.” The belief that a person in a Type One belief system is comfortable with and satisfied with is not always the same thing that a person in a Type Three belief system is comfortable with and satisfied with. We have an idiom in English for that: “different strokes for different folks.”

When I say, “I believe you,” what am I saying? I’m saying that I’m comfortable with what you told me, or that I’m satisfied with what you told me. Truth and efficacy are not necessarily factors of why I believe something. Some truths are very uncomfortable, and hard for me to believe. Some lies are easy for me to believe because they make me feel comfortable. If you tell me that my mistakes are not my fault, it’s easy for me to believe. If you tell me that my mistakes are my responsibility, that is uncomfortable and I would rather not believe you. I find it a little bit of a revelation that belief has more to do with comfort than it has to do with truth. Any effort to find the truth will likely take you out of your belief comfort zone.

If you said to me, “hey, there are three elephants in the parking lot,” and it is a totally made up story, how am I going to process it? Part of my mind goes, “wow, that’s unusual---three elephants in the parking lot!” The another part of my mind says, “well, it could happen.” In the Ocean Center, Daytona Beach Florida, there is a large door called the “elephant door.” The Ringling Brothers Circus, uses the door to bring in their “elephants” when they are in town for a show. So, yes, I now know that it is possible as a point of future reference.

In a Type One belief system, “yea. It could be true,” amounts to verification. So I believe your story, because it could be true. And, I even pass the information on to someone else, “hey Mary, did you know there are forty elephants in the parking lot?” Now, I have been known to tease Mary occasionally, April Fools’ jokes and that sort of thing. She’s going to receive my story about the forty elephants in the parking lot with some skepticism. She doesn’t feel comfortable to be fooled. “Sure, Danielle,” she says. “Would you believe three elephants?” “Maybe.” She is checking her experiences to see if it could be true.

And as long as she’s checking to see if it could be true, I tease her: “and one of the elephants stepped on your car?” “The intention behind a Type One belief is to be right.” A person in a Type One belief system, will find this belief very comfortable: “I am right and they are wrong.” This is the intention that leads to war and strife. It sets family against family, neighbor against neighbor. “I am right and they are wrong.”

Type One believing is more or less taking an inventory of your memory and determining the plausibility of some statement. As long as you come up with, “Yea, it could be.” And the source of the information is making you right, you will be persuaded. Persuasion in a Type One belief system is based on emotions connected with being right or wrong. That is the Type One process of believing: someone says something; it sounds plausible; and you get this little emotional surge because what you suspected was right is really right or what you suspected was wrong is really wrong. This is a well known formula for getting elected by a large group: say something, make it sound plausible, and stimulate some righteous emotion. Most political platforms consist of Type One beliefs.

With Type One believing , you checked the record to see if a statement was plausible, but with “Type Two” believing you don’t have to check for memories because you already know. You know without looking. Knowing has more certainty in it than remembering.

How many times do you have to experience a cause and effect sequence before you know? How many times do you have to repeat an action, always producing the same result, before you can say that you know without looking for what the result will be of that action? That is a Type Two belief.

Type Two beliefs are common sense and there really is no effort involved in believing them. You just know. If someone tells you they dropped an object and it fell to the floor, your going to go, “Doh! What did you expect?” You don’t have to see if it is plausible, or if the person is making you right, because you know that dropped objects fall to the floor. The belief is transparent. Now, if someone were to say that he dropped an object and it fell up to the ceiling, you’re not going to feel that your rightness is threatened, you will just consider that the guy is some sort of whack-job.

The intention behind Type Two belief systems is to conform and act rationally. And in this case, rationality is based on transparent beliefs that everyone pretty much agrees on. If you want to persuade someone of a Type Two belief, you appeal to their sense of conformity.

OK, lets move up to Type Three believing process. If you want to experience a complicated believing process explore a Type Three belief system. The intention behind a Type Three belief systems is to prove it. You are going to persuade by presenting facts that support your theory, and disputing facts that don’t support your theory. There is still a shadow of the urge to be right from Type One.

Type Three is the realm of physical sciences, …and facts, …and hypothesis, …and propositions, …and suppositions, …and theories, …and especially physical measuring devices. Did you know that there are measuring devices to measure how accurately other measuring devices measure (the “Science of Metrology”, (“not Meteorology, that’s Weather science”)). An area of science that I have spent several years in with the Aerospace industry.

The mantra of the Type Three believing process is, “What evidence do you have for believing that?” A large part of the Type Three believing process is debating over the evidence. And the only way of settling a Type Three debate is with the measuring devices. And, even that doesn’t always work.

The Type Three process of believing is a factual investigation of the perception of a reality, which, based upon transparent beliefs, is assumed to be real. For example, two Harvard psychologists discovered that when a 100-volt shock is applied the right side of a rat’s cage, the rat moves immediately to the left side of the cage. From the experiment they were able to conclude that rats are intelligent enough to avoid being shocked. After the experiment, one of the psychologists accidentally stumbled and touched the live electrodes. Responding to his screams, the other psychologist, instead of moving away, grabbed the first psychologist and both of them were so severely shocked that they required medical attention. Proving that a rat is smarter than two Harvard psychologists.

Type Three beliefs are based on scientific evidence, which is based on measuring devices, which measure something that is assumed to be real. Science doesn’t so much extend the frontier of human experience, as it extends backward from the frontier of human experience. The Type Three believing system is a maturation with the Type One believing process and the Type Two believing process falls somewhere in between.

So here you have the evolution of the believing process. You have a linear evolvement of child, adolescent, adult.

The material here in vast majority is from a speech given in June 2007, by Harry Palmer, to the International Avatar Course attendees. Star’s Edge International, Altamonte Springs, Florida.

Avatar is about a different “belief system. The Type Four system not to be discussed at this time is the core concepts of the Avatar program that is taught World-Wide by certified Avatar masters.

Hugs

Danielle Marie