The Road to Lifestyle

Now, I feel that I must disclose that my ability to visualize is not always at its peak. I have visualized and not been able to manifest that which I tried to conjure. But I take full responsibility for my ineptitude. It was my lack of clarity and focus that caused my failure (there's that word again!). Just last week I was listening to a cassette tape (yes, you read correctly... cassette tape) that mentioned Robert Louis Stevenson--the author, essayist, poet... does Treasure Island ring a bell? When Stevenson's faith waned as to whether or not he was truly in control of his life he was said to perform the following exercise. He would visualize with specificity something that he wanted and he'd wait for it to manifest itself in his life. That day I had a storm cloud hovering over me and my wings seemed to have been covered in mud. I was a bit blue and frustrated with my progress in certain areas of my life; yes! I have those days too! So I decided to give the exercise ...

I sent this e-mail to my Agency Manager and copied MM on 15 July 2009: I felt compelled to share this excerpt from my diary that was written a few days after MM spoke on 4 March 2009 (I was reviewing my notes from his talk)... like MM and other leaders have said before... "If you're not growing you're dying, there is no standing still." "8 March 2009 - Yesterday Braden and I went to Clifton Gorge... we stopped... actually Braden stopped at a spot and started walking over a tree that had fallen... like a balance beam... I avoided it... it looked like it was a long way across and too far of a drop... I walked around it... on the way back I decided to try and I stopped [on the log] and was very unsteady--my arms waving to and fro... as I tried to maintain my balance... I did not walk forward... and I did not walk back... I merely stood in place... Braden told me to keep moving and when I did I realized how easy it was for me to maintain my balance and how easy it wa...

According to Wikipedia , the term "lifestyle" was originally coined by Alfred Adler, an Austrian psychologist, in 1929. It is defined as the nuances--the attitudes, beliefs, habits, persona, economic level etc.--that constitute the mode of living for an individual or group. I buy that. Britannica Online Encyclopedia tells us, "Each person develops his personality and strives for perfection in his own particular way, in what Adler termed a style of life, or lifestyle. The individual’s lifestyle forms in early childhood and is partly determined by what particular inferiority affected him most deeply during his formative years." Man, I find that curious. Our lifestyle is "...partly determined by what particular inferiority affected [us] most deeply during [our] formative years?" OK... I buy that too. Because, admittedly, that's my reality (we'll get to that later) and in all likelihood, yours too. If you don't believe me just read T. Harv Eker...