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I've experienced plenty of different business and personal coaches, and probably the most important lesson (hat tip to Open Up Communication [1]) links into thi

I've experienced plenty of different business and personal coaches, and probably the most important lesson (hat tip to Open Up Communication [1]) links into this article: "I create and choose the whole of my own reality". Not just the stuff I can control. Not just the stuff I think about and want to create. The WHOLE of my life. Of course, it makes no intellectual sense. And it's tempting to water it down into Stephen Covey's 'Circle of Influence'. But as a guiding principle it's awesomely powerful. I go through life knowing that I can personally take responsibility for everything that happens to me. Which means I am empowered to change things, to make things happen, and to create exactly the life I want. (Application of the principle is, of course, much more difficult. Still, even imperfectly applied, I see the results and I know I feel much better about my life than most of those around me.) [1] http://www.openup.com.au/ http://www.openup.com.au/

adrianwaj 17y ago
"I create and choose the whole of my own reality". This may be true, but it can't be known without massive self-awareness. I can only start off with that as a belief that may one day end up as knowledge from experience. It's a good notion to use to test one's day to day experiences and see where they began internally to be manifested externally.
- JacobAldridge 17y ago
  I suppose I intellectualize it a little like Pascal's Wager - I'll never know whether it's true or not, but when all things are weighted it's far better to believe than not.
  - adrianwaj 17y ago
    Keep an open mind about God - beliefs will only block God out, or construe God in some pre-defined way. How does one keep an open mind? By not closing it. To me, "God chooses your and its reality through you" is a better maxim to live by than "I create and choose the whole of my reality." Same thing actually, but in the latter it would be God saying the statement, rather than a person, or else a person very close to God. "It is all futile" said Kind Solomon. I am limited to choosing my reality to the extent that I can choose my dreams, which is basically impossible (unless lucid dreaming), but it is possible to choose the way one reacts to life events.
    - JacobAldridge 17y ago
      I guess my response to that is filtered because I don't believe in an interventionist God, but you make two good points. Firstly, that an open mind (about anything - I made an analogy to Pascal's Wager but didn't introduce God into the discussion) is important. So often "I know" means "I say No" to possibility. Secondly, I was initially inclined to think that giving God some agency in one's life defeats the initial argument I wanted to make about choice and power in life. On reflection, if you do believe in a God that can influence your reality, and believe you can communicate with her, then it's just another way of choosing dreams / goals and working to create them, and feeling like an important part of the whole universe.
  - deleted 17y ago
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adrianwaj 17y ago

"I create and choose the whole of my own reality". This may be true, but it can't be known without massive self-awareness. I can only start off with that as a belief that may one day end up as knowledge from experience. It's a good notion to use to test one's day to day experiences and see where they began internally to be manifested externally.

JacobAldridge 17y ago
I suppose I intellectualize it a little like Pascal's Wager - I'll never know whether it's true or not, but when all things are weighted it's far better to believe than not.
- adrianwaj 17y ago
  Keep an open mind about God - beliefs will only block God out, or construe God in some pre-defined way. How does one keep an open mind? By not closing it. To me, "God chooses your and its reality through you" is a better maxim to live by than "I create and choose the whole of my reality." Same thing actually, but in the latter it would be God saying the statement, rather than a person, or else a person very close to God. "It is all futile" said Kind Solomon. I am limited to choosing my reality to the extent that I can choose my dreams, which is basically impossible (unless lucid dreaming), but it is possible to choose the way one reacts to life events.
  - JacobAldridge 17y ago
    I guess my response to that is filtered because I don't believe in an interventionist God, but you make two good points. Firstly, that an open mind (about anything - I made an analogy to Pascal's Wager but didn't introduce God into the discussion) is important. So often "I know" means "I say No" to possibility. Secondly, I was initially inclined to think that giving God some agency in one's life defeats the initial argument I wanted to make about choice and power in life. On reflection, if you do believe in a God that can influence your reality, and believe you can communicate with her, then it's just another way of choosing dreams / goals and working to create them, and feeling like an important part of the whole universe.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]