Saturday, June 28, 2008

Ben Franklin, America's Original Entrepreneur... an unselfish visionary

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Ben Franklin, America's Original Entrepreneur, is a Tricentennial Commemorative Edition (1706-2006). Written by Baylor University Professor, Blaine McCormick, who is widely known for his studies on Franklin and business advantages, he has put together a very interesting must-have-business-bookshelf addition of Ben Franklin's business genius. He has taken the autobiography of Ben Franklin, made it easy to understand, and adds examples of current entrepreneurs who have followed Franklin's principles.

Ben Franklin saw himself as a business person. Although he was integral in the creation of a media empire, establishing the first public library (a zealous advocate of reading), creating the first book club, founder of the University of Pennsylvania, creating fire brigade system, an inventor (the Franklin stove well known still), and a statesman. His insights to life, wisdom, and virtues of life principles remain well read today. The greatest personal virtue is humility, while having pride to do things well.


The Entrepreneur addition has three main parts and 80 chapters. Franklin wanted his autobiography to be to be a book of principles explored by the success and failures of his life that would be useful for other business people.


As a printer, publisher, newspaper enterprise, he recorded his ideas so others could acquire knowledge too. Franklin was 65 years old when he wrote his autobiography of his life lessons learned. Being the youngest of the youngest of 5 generations he was doomed to no inheritance, but learned how to become wealthy. Actually, no inheritance works in favor of the great, Franklin states. You can finish better than your beginnings.


First lesson... give credit where credit's due. You are part of an inter-connected social system. Franklin was self taught and held in high value in life... reading, leadership, and a bias for action. All life should be embedded in being moral with integrity and honesty in all endeavors.

Lengthen life by lessening meals and be a vegetarian. Eat to live, and not live to eat. Reconcile with people you have wronged. We lessen impact on our lives when we initiate to make right where we wronged.
"He who lies down with dogs gets up with fleas." Your reputation follows you.
"Promises get friends, non-performance loses them."
"Be aware of little expenses, a small leak will sink a big boat."
Negotiation power is in the power of liking. People work with people they like.

The Rise of the Entrepreneur
"How to govern my life and live it intentionally."
Stay frugal. Pay off your debts. Speak the truth in every situation. Steady, patient work acquires wealth. Don't speak poorly of anybody.

Franklin organized his own clubs for self development and gathering strategic information. The Bible forbids certain things because they are bad for us. So listen to what the Bible says and God's good will be with you. When cheated, Franklin didn't sue, he just competitively out-businessed them.

He established many entities that groomed learning. Such as the University of Pennsylvania, the Library, Poor Richard's Almanac, where he provided proverbs for virtuous living. He felt government and religion worked best when interactive. The art of virtue came out in Franklin's life abiding list to Moral Virtue.
1. Self-control: over eating, over drinking.
2. Silence: say only what benefits others.
3. Order: keep things in proper place.
4. Determination: carry out commitment.
5. Economy: waste not, and let your only expense be doing good to others.
6. Productivity: spend time on useful matters.
7. Truthfulness: avoid lies that harm others.
8. Justice: avoid injuring others by your actions.
9. Moderation: avoid extremes and don't hold grudges.
10. Cleanliness: keep body, clothes, living place clean.
11. Peace: Don't be overtaken by irritants.
12. Chastity: indulge in sex for sake of health and offspring only.
13. Humility: imitate Jesus and Socrates

"There is one God who made all things. He governs the world by His Providence. And we should worship Him in adoration, prayer, and thanksgiving."
"What is serving God? It's doing good to man."

While a printer, publisher, inventor, statesman, Franklin's goal was always reciprocal. Use your talents and industry to make life better for mankind around you. Your life will be full of wealth of fulfillment, satisfaction and true joys of living. Ben Franklin, a great achiever, humble in that not matter what he achieved, he always saw more to be done.

Ben Franklin in our day would have probably been a forerunner using web technology to further his causes. Others have put his original autobiography on line.
http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/
Blaine McCormick's web identities.
http://www.baylor.edu/christianleadership/index.php?id=36965
Ben Franklin: America's Original Entrepreneur
http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Franklin-Americas-Original-Entrepreneur/dp/1932531688

One of the richest men who ever lived was very immoral.
He practiced all of Ben Franklin's principles except he had a love for women and had many wives that God forbid him to marry. Ironically, the Bible features his Proverbs for us to read today, but he admitted himself that all he attained in life was vanity. That all life was vanity. The pursuit of wealth, of women, and a lover of wine was to his own demise.

In his new book, How to Get Rich, Felix Dennis admits he lived the wild life with all the money he had. Then he cautions the reader not to pursue the life of wealth for wealth's sake, womanizing and mind altering drug partying. Although, he has given up the drug life, but now promotes wealth for good reasons, wine for health reasons, and women for meaningful relationships.

Jesus said to store up your riches in Heaven.
As the Apostle Paul said to keep your mind on Heavenly things. With this as your state of mind, "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory." (Col. 3:1-4, NLT)

He suggests we die to this life.
Jesus goes on to say to pursue the Building of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven. Is this possible? Well, only if we know what Heaven is.
So it would be of value to visit it from time to time. We can do that in what we call prayer. We can learn the fine art of in-depth meditation.

Now Paul said He even visited Heaven.
"I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don't know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell." (2 Cor. 2-4, NLT)

We can refine times in Spirit to visit Heaven too.
Franklin advocated a life of morality. To give up moral sins, and not to over indulge. When we visit Heaven in our Spirit we die to the flesh, the things of this world. We can't control our fleshly nature, but we can dwell in Heaven more than earth and affect its emphasis in our life. In that our preoccupations of mind are on Heavenly things.

When the Bible talks of fasting, it is more than just food. It is what naturally drives us to get it under control, so the Spirit has full control. When we fast we may think of food degradation, but when we dwell in Heaven we create earth degradation. We lose touch of earth. It loses its hold on us, and then Heaven has its grip.

We can become moral, but not the way Solomon did as he had all the things of this earth. That's why Jesus said sell it all. We gain the riches of Heaven by giving up our emotional hold to things of this earth. Jesus wasn't being a meanie by asking us to give up everything for Him. He knew as long as we made the earth our priority, that Heaven wouldn't be our priority. And we wouldn't be able to enjoy the wonderful riches of Spirit while on earth. So He said to "take up your cross and follow Me."

We do this by crucifying the flesh as Paul said.
Sins of over indulging fight our Spirit. When we over eat, are overly busy, spend excessive time in things of earthly satisfactions, we temper the Spirit. Sex, food, drug addictions are all forms of flesh commanding its way over the Spirit. Sins of obesity, busyness take us from Spirit. "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God." (Gal.5:19-21, NLT)

We are to kill fleshly pleasure.
"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." (Gal. 5:24-24, NLT)

What is Crucifying the flesh?
Andrew Murray goes into detail on what this means for the Believer in Christ. From Murray's, Like Christ.
http://www.victoryoversin.com/murray/like/lc06.htm

We are to set our minds on Heavenly things.
That's our life... forever. What we live in the flesh, our minds, our worldly indulgences are temporary. Indulging in the things of the flesh and making that our aim, instead of Spirit, will lead to despair. Paul in Galatians exhorts us to live by the Spirit and not the flesh.

We are to be filled with the Spirit.

"Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith." (Gal. 6:8-10, NLT)

Morality are issues Franklin said are essential to being effective in business.
Franklin advocated that our lives should be about doing good,
a business should bring good to those around us.

Jesus takes this to another level.
Build the Kingdom of God on earth as in Heaven as your chief aim.

Learn what Heaven is.
Bring it to earth through Spirit in what your purpose and mission is in life.
Build wealth in His Kingdom that lasts forever and you will enjoy forever.
Build the Kingdom of Heaven around you so all you rub shoulders with will enjoy it too.

Friday, June 20, 2008

How to Wow... led by Spirit

By Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

How to Wow by Frances Cole Jones is about proven strategies for presenting your ideas, persuading your audience and perfecting your image.

Loaded with key precepts on personal communication she gives chapter by chapter tips on how to make it work in the every day life of business. Such as... introducing yourself with impact, meetings and interviews, speeches, power point, writing and social interactions. These are ruddy communication skills that make you stand out as a business leader.

How to Wow is organized in a way you can use it as a reference source to get timely business savvy tips for a specific event you are about to become engaged.

Here's a few of her tips, but by no means exhaustive of all the down-to-earth business experiences Frances covers.

Face to Face communications
Know the 7-38-55 rule. 7% of influence comes from your words, 35% your tone of voice, and 55% your body language. Remember the James Bond memorable line. "My name is Bond... James Bond." The pause after Bond makes it zing. When someone asks you how you are doing.. Avoid the "incredible, great" reply. Be more creative and paint a picture of what great may be like. More isn't better, better is better. And learn to breathe from your diaphragm... sounds better and calms nerves.

When one-on-one the eyes have it.

Watch eyes, look into eyes, read the eyes. When talking to someone state the obvious. Because it is obvious, many times it may not be stated because everyone thinks they know. The "I'm just jokin" comment may not be a joke. People say this to cover a truth in what they say so not to overtly offend you. What we dislike in others may be what we dislike about ourselves. People may give away their true colors by what they say about others. Follow up and stay in touch, especially when you say you will.

In the Meeting

Hand your handouts out at the end of the meeting. They will read ahead and not follow your build up in the presentation. Use them as a summary of what you said, to hand out at the end, so they can review what you did say. Keep your hands where everyone can see them. It says you are not hiding anything. When others are speaking, look at them like you would gaze into the eyes of someone special on your first date. When others talk give them that great-first-date look.

Always be clear on: the situation you are covering, the mission, the execution strategies, administration needs, and the communication pipeline you take on every project.

The Interview
Get there early and be in the vicinity early. Announce yourself about 5 minutes before your interview. Pause before you answer a question. In difficult questions use this as time to think. This makes you come off as a thorough, thoughtful thinker.

Ask, but in a way that shows respect for ourselves and the other person. Know your walk away number. Keep your sense of humor, and followup promptly, professionally, with polish.

Speeches... stand and deliver
Check out the physical environment. Note acoustics, ability to be seen and heard. When you are given a Mike instead of tapping on it, just ask first if everyone can hear you. If you are in a long room without a mike, ask the same.

The speech everyone hears and remembers follows the Rule of 3. Have 3 main points and 3 good examples for each point. Most people can't remember past three. The examples help them make a tie into their lives.

When you plan to open up for questions, play it safe by having someone planted in the audience to ask a first question. Before you give a speech, tell them you will be taking questions... so they can make a note of it during the speech.

When you finish, no matter what the response, act pleased. Walk away with a confidence you said what you needed to say. This makes the audience sense an importance to what you said.

Keeping power in your powerpoint
Come early and pre-setup the room and make sure everything works. Arrange the room so everyone can see, note the best place for you to stand and be heard. Use the 10/20/30 Rule. Show no more than 10 slides, no longer than 20 minutes, no smaller than 30 point type.

Keep most important information on the right. People go left to right in how their eyes flow and accept as truth more what is on the right. Right means good.

Put it in Writing
Emails should communicate facts and figures. Attempts at emotion in email can backfire. Avoid the ALL CAPs and extra exclamation marks!!!!!. People take these as yelling.

Your resume should be clean, concise, active in language, concrete in detail and tailored to your recipient. When using a cover letter, use the one-two punch. It's not to tell the whole story but get the reader to get into what you want to say. State "why I am writing you, what I bring to the party." Write, review, rewrite.

In a speech, bullet your key points and don't write word for word.

Making the most of Social interactions
Many avoid social interactions in that they may come across too pushy when introducing themselves and talking about what they do, or seem opportunistic or needy. Although skills in these settings are very important to advance life and business opportunities.

Count your assets
You have more to offer than what you may think when you stand comparing yourself to others in the room. Get excited before you enter the room... turn dread into anticipation. Introduce yourself. Use Mr. and Mrs. when talking to others. Use mutual friends to introduce you, but if they are not there you need to introduce yourself. You can never error by being too polite. And when you introduce yourself don't do a full frontal assault. Create interest, then ask to followup in a few days.

Verbal finesse
When in doubt of a person's intentions, ask them to clarify...actively listen. Your word choice is critical. Use the word "situation" when discussing a problem. Don't react to hostile questions. Pause, repeat your top line message.

Respond to "what if" with "what is." Always ask for more clarification, then redirect when necessary. When not knowing how to respond, commend the other person for an interesting point of view.

For more on Frances Cole Jones, Cole Media Management, and How to Wow:
http://www.howtowow-thebook.com/

The Spirit is a powerful, pinpointing force for speaking to others. Here is a comprehensive summary of how to walk with precision in Spirit in all you do.

An excerpt from The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit by R.A. Torrey
True prayer is prayer in the Spirit (i.e., the prayer that the Holy Spirit inspires and directs). The prayer in which the Holy Spirit leads us is the prayer "according the will of God." (Rom 8:27) When we ask anything according to God's will, we know that He hears us, and we know that He has granted the things that we ask. (see 1 John 5:14-15.)


We may know it is ours at the moment when we pray just as surely as we know it afterwards when we have it in our actual possession.

But how can we know the will of God when we pray?
In two ways.
First of all, by what is written in His Word. All the promises in the Bible are sure, and if God promises anything in the Bible, we may be sure it is His will to give us that thing.

But there are many things that we need which are not specifically promised in the Word and still even in that case it is our privilege to know the will of God, for it is the work of the Holy Spirit to teach us God's will and lead us out in prayer along the line of God's will.

Some object to the Christian doctrine of prayer, for they say that it teaches that we can go to God in our ignorance and change His will and subject His Infinite wisdom to our erring foolishness, but that is not the Christian doctrine of prayer at all. The Christian doctrine of prayer is that it is the believer's privilege to be taught by the Spirit of God himself to know what the will of God is and not to ask for the things that our foolishness would prompt us to ask for but to ask for things that the never-erring Spirit of God prompts us to ask for.

True prayer is prayer "in the Spirit" (Eph. 6:18), that is, the prayer which the Spirit inspires and directs.

When we come into God's presence, we should recognize our infirmities: our ignorance of what is best for us, our ignorance of what we should pray for, and our ignorance of how we should pray for it. In the consciousness of our utter inability to pray correctly, we should look up to the Holy Spirit to teach us to pray and cast ourselves utterly upon Him to direct our prayers and to discover our desires and guide our utterance of them. There is no place where we need to recognize our ignorance more than we do in prayer.

Rushing heedlessly into God's presence and asking the first thing that comes into our minds, or that some other thoughtless one asks us to pray for, is not praying "in the Holy Ghost" (Jude 1:20) and is not true prayer. We must wait for the Holy Spirit and surrender ourselves to Him. The prayer that God the Holy Spirit inspires is the prayer that God the Father answers.

The longings which the Holy Spirit begets in our hearts are often too deep for utterance, too deep apparently for clear and definite comprehension on the part of the believer himself in whom the Spirit is working: "The Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." (Rom. 8:26)

God Himself "searches the hearts" to know what "the mind of the Spirit" is (Rom. 8:27) in these unuttered and unutterable longings. But God does know what the mind of the Spirit is. He does know what these Spirit-given longings which we cannot put into words mean even if we do not. These longing are "according to the will of God" (Rom. 8:27), and God grants them. It is in this way that it comes to pass that God's able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us. (Eph. 3:20)

There are other times when the Spirit's leadings are so clear that we pray with the Spirit and with the understanding also. (1 Cor. 14:15) We distinctly understand what it is that the Holy Spirit leads us to pray for.

That we "Lack Wisdom."
We must be conscious of and fully admit our own inability to decide wisely. Here is where we often fail to receive God's wisdom. We think we are able to decide for ourselves or at least we are not ready to admit our own utter inability to decide. There must be an entire renunciation of the wisdom of the flesh.


We must really desire to know God's way and be willing at any cost to do God's will.
This is implied in the word, "ask". The asking must be sincere, and if we are not willing to do God's will, whatever it may be, at any cost, the asking is not sincere. This is a point of fundamental importance. There is nothing that goes so far to make our mind's clear in the discernment of the will of God as revealed by His Spirit as an absolutely surrendered will.


Here we find the reason why men oftentimes do not know God's will and do not have the Spirit's guidance. They are not willing to do whatever the Spirit leads at any cost. It is He who wants to do His will who will know not only of the doctrine but His daily duty. Men oftentimes come to me and say, "I cannot find out the will of God," but when I put to them the question, "are you willing to do the will of God at any cost?" They admit that the are not. The way that is very obscure when we hold back from an absolute surrender to God becomes as clear as day when we make that surrender. We must definitely "ask" for guidance.

It is not enough to desire; it is not enough to be willing to obey; we must ask, definitely ask God to show the way. We must confidently expect guidance.

"Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering."(James 1:6). There are many who cannot find the way, though they ask God to show it to them, simply because they have not the absolutely undoubting expectation that God will show them the way. God promises to show it if we expect it confidently. When you come to God in prayer to show you what to do, know for a certainty that He will show you. In what way He will show you, He does not tell but he promises that he will show you and that is enough.

We must follow step-by-step as the guidance comes.
As said before, just how it will come, no one can tell, but it will come. Often times only a step will be made clear at a time; that is all we need to know-the next step. Many are in darkness because they do not know and cannot find what God would have them do next week or next month or next year.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Answer... to great brains, business and Spirit

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

The Answer by John Assaraf and Murray is a penetrating work on re-wiring your brain so it naturally manufactures achievement powers in business. The book has two parts. First, the mental retraining part, which is one of the most thorough treatments on this which actually shows you how you can re-wire your brain. Plus a section on building your business using these dynamic mental processes.

Here is a short view of what they do.
All the universe is tied to a brain that has a connection to everything. Goal setting, visualizing, affirmations work if done the right way
. Assaraf scientifically explores these dynamics and shows the power of the process behind it.


Our physical world is made up of atoms. Atoms are indivisible units of energy when united. Einstein breaks it all down to that everything is energy. With the property of entanglement, these influence each other. When in a zero point field, a force appears at absolute zero, that's when all known forms of energy vanish. Instantaneous connections of entanglement are made and a field of information appears. Basically, then, everything is made of thought.

In a nutshell, everything in the physical world is made from atoms, atoms are made out of energy, and energy is made out of conscious.Thoughts create things, and belief is the power which creates reality of the thought. So ideas precede things and belief creates the things.

A law of attraction is established... what we think comes to being.The seed of your business is vision.The law of gestation then comes into play in that seeds need time to gestate and form. Carrot seeds take 70 days, human life takes 280 days. You can't force the seed to grow at this stage. If you push the process it pushes back. If you root up the seed before it gestates, it dies. You have to allow the idea time to germinate and grow, to take root and find its resources on its own time. The next most important law is the law of action. After you plant you water, weed, take care of the planted seed; you create the environment so it can grow.

These three laws work together
... attraction, gestation, action...
so you must be purposeful, patient, and active.

Along with this time you maintain clear thinking with a clear vision, clear on its details which is focus. The greater the clarity, the more consistent the focus, the better the results outcome.

Your brain is amazing. Your conscious brain has a will, memory, perception, reasoning, intuition and imagination. But your conscious brain is only 17% of your brain. The nonconscious brain has 83% capacity. It functions 800 times faster, stores everything, processes four hundred billion bits of information per second, and serves limitlessly all the requests of the conscious brain... good or bad. The conscious brain perceives past and future, whereas the nonconscious brain functions in the now.

Setting goals is a conscious process; achieving goals is a spiritual, nonconscious process. To achieve anything requires the extraordinary function of the nonconscious brain's advanced functions. You got to re-wire it. It has stored everything and recorded your judgments on every experience... good and bad. The bad needs to be replaced with the good, and that can be done.

Here's Assaraf's method: You must...

Find something that stirs your soul.
Become excellent at it.
Recondition your mind to believe you can have it and achieve it.
Understand how to make money at it.
Take daily action.

By establishing new habits that match your beliefs, without having your brain in conflict with your beliefs, your achievement levels begin advancing on their own. Assaraf calls this neural conditioning.

There are six steps to neural reconditioning.
Step 1: Create a new vision of your financial and business success. Make it emotionally rich and crystal clear.
Step 2: Create powerful declarations and affirmations that support the new vision.
Step 3: Develop emotional anchors for neural linking.
Step 4: Prepare a portfolio of imprinting material... written, auditory, visual, subliminal pieces.
Step 5: Maintain a brief daily routine of reconditioning techniques, three times a day (on waking, midday, before bed).
Step 6: Employ various forms of neurotechnology to reinforce these images throughout the day.

Create a new vision.
New vision takes repetition, repetition, repetition. Plus impact. You create an imprint in your mind that has dramatic impact. To imprint, it must be done over and over again. You are laying down new tracks to replace the old tracks so this becomes your neural path. What you have experienced is eventually over-ridden by what you imagine, if done enough times. The brain does not know the difference from what is imagined, if imagined vividly, strongly, and repeatedly, and it becomes the new reality of who you are, of how you immediately respond.

Create Powerful Affirmations.
Affirmations are statements as if what you are saying is already existing with the emotion of how much you are liking the way it is. It's taking the future and making it present. One suggestion Assaraf has is to think about something very exciting that happened in your life, and think on this until your emotions well up like they did when it actually happened. At the peak of this emotion, do your new affirmation with the same excitement. This gives real life to your affirmation. It affects your belief system to really believe it is possible. Say, "I am a brilliant and savvy business person" over and over, and your nonconscious will embed this belief and create better thinking process for you to be just that. When you brain says... "naaaa"! You must override it with the affirmation again and again and it will eventually believe it, and make it you.

Create emotional anchors for neural linking.
This is linking the new belief with powerful feelings that already exist in association with some other memory. It is taking the example above of a highly gratifying, positive emotionally charged experience, like winning a talent show, getting a wonderful present, being loved by someone very special, doing something that no one can do as good as you... that made you feel sensational inside. Then as you recall these events, it potently affects your self-worth to override failures of the past, to create the excitement tied to it, making your new affirmation become you. At the height of this emotion, say the affirmation within the vision and feeling of this
heightened emotion.
This is neural linking.


Neural linking is a powerful mind-control exercise that strengthens your mind belief system, and desire for what you envision and hope for.

Prepare neural imprinting material.
Write statements about your success, type and laminate them. Listen to audio recordings, and record your own voice about the excitement of your achievement. Also consider subliminal recordings (which Assaraf has) and vision or dream boards. Keep pictures of what your new life looks like around you everywhere.

Create neural reconditioning routines.
Meditate. Learn the art of meditation which Assaraf explains how to do it. He is very thorough in explaining how you can do this... and do it well. It must be mastered, and when you do, you will get outstanding results and see amazing changes in your life.

Meditation increases abilities of focus and concentration, observation, creates energy, helps you learn and remember better, overcomes illnesses... and more. When the brain waves are at the alpha lever, between totally awake and asleep, that is sleepy but still awake, the nonconscious is most susceptible to impressions to it. It takes when you put in it as fact, records these and makes them your active reference on how you function. In meditation and then deliberately reprogramming or re-wiring the brain, you create some of the most astounding changes you will ever see in your life.

The sixth step is using neurotechnology.
That's audio and subliminal forms of communication. Even though we are not consciously aware of many impulses to our brain, they are making an imprint on our brain.

In summary, when doing the neural reconditioning processes, it is better to do them three times a day... at morning, midday, and evening. The dynamic core is
Meditation
Visualization
Affirmations

And throughout the day, apply various forms of neurotechnology.

Then the second part of The Answer takes you into how to re-wire your business using your re-wired brain to build a mental magnitude that propels your business to greatly expanded horizons.

It's about vision, focus, action. Doing a gap analysis... looking at where you are, where you want to go, and what needs to be done in between.

Murray Smith handles much of this second half taking you through a systematic journey of identifying your ideal customer, innovating your business, finding your business DNA, reaching your ideal customer, using the laws of attraction, gestation, action to think big... but this time you make it work. This is equivalent to a second book... very thorough.

The Answer is loaded with forms at the back of the book and even more resources at
www.onecoach.com/theanswer

The brain is a very powerful organism created by God. Jesus told us about another powerful organism... that is living in Spirit and tying to God in Spirit. When in Spirit with God, we then expand brain potential to Spirit potential which is universe creating power. We can apply the method suggested by Assaraf to refining this Spiritual connection we have.
In Meditation-- go into the presence of God and let the Spirit speak, allow the Principles of Scripture to soak in. Allow The Holy Spirit to penetrate and rebuild your soul.
Add Visualization--see God revolutionizing the lives of those you are praying for.This is faith. Seeing the answer as given, before it materializes. From this, God stirs revelations of Spirit, of things to come and what He will do. (Do this as you pray for friends, relationships, co-workers... and see God transform their lives.)
Then Affirmation--Praise God for the victory as if everything you are praying for has already happened. In faith let praise be on your lips, your voice, your heart and mind. As David did, proclaim the victory like he did when he charged the giant. In vigor and with all you got, shout out in strong belief the power of God in your life, claiming victory. In the Old Testament, many times they gave a Big Shout as they charged the enemy.

If we would make this our process of prayer, and in faith reach into the presence of God, and seek His insights and directions, we would see a super-powerful path open up before us.

"For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." (Zephaniah 3:17, NLT)

We are reminded that God is a Living God. He is Spirit. And this is an active creative Spirit. This is an intelligent Spirit that communicates and saturates the universe... all of existence, and all that can be created to exist. He is personal and speaks personally to each and every creation... of those who will listen. This very Spirit of God chooses to live in Us. In meditation we can go to this Spirit of God which then extends into His infinity of existence.

"Yet the time will come when Israel's people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, 'You are not my people,' it will be said, 'You are children of the living God.'" (Hosea 1:10, NLT)

This Spirit lives in us and delights to bring tangible victory we can witness with our own eyes. Spirit, of the invisible, becomes visible in production of its results. He brings joy into our lives and gives us depth of satisfaction in lifestyle.

God then takes these simple steps and begins transforming us as we continually mediate on His ways, His principles of living. We know the source of our power and we go to it. We know the credit belongs to His Power in us, working for us, that penetrates all things around us.

"As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world's interest in me has also died. What counts is whether we have been transformed into a new creation. May God's peace and mercy be upon all who live by this principle; they are the new people of God." (Galatians 6:14-16, NLT)

"Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2, NLT)

Our methods to accomplish things change. We learn, become acquainted with Spirit and rely on Spirit to work at levels greater than our brains. Our brains join with this power and we walk in a dual transforming power.

Andrew Murray reminds us of how significant this vehicle is in our lives.
"Man is God's temple. In him, too, there are the three parts. In the body you have the outer court, the external visible life, where all the conduct has to be regulated by God's law, and where all the service consists in looking to that which is done without us and for us to bring us nigh to God. Then there is the soul, with its inner life, its power of mind and feeling and will. In the regenerate man this is the Holy Place, where thoughts and affections and desires move to and fro as the priests of the sanctuary, rendering God their service in the full light of consciousness. And then comes within the veil, hidden from all human sight and light, the hidden inmost sanctuary, ' the secret place of the Most High,' where God dwells, and where man may not enter, until the veil is rent at God's own bidding. Man has not only body and soul, but also Spirit. Deeper down than where the soul with its consciousness can enter, there is a Spirit-nature linking man with God." (from the Spirit of Christ by Andrew Murray), more at:
http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/murray/7764/776424.htm

The implications here are beyond mental comprehension, so in faith as we meditate on Scriptures, see the answer as we pray, and proclaim with our voice the workings of God's Spirit in our life, we see this Supernatural power working outstandingly around us.

It's embedded in our minds, hearts and Spirit when meditating on His principles.
Revelation is produced to show what God is about to do and what we are about in doing it.
Proclamation voices it vigorously in our lives to boldly overtake our foes.
A partnership in Spirit that yields an active, living Supernatural lifestyle.

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Just Enough Anxiety... embrace growth stress

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

In Just Enough Anxiety by Robert H. Rosen, Rosens says, "It's time to embrace change, uncertainty and anxiety as facts of life. We can use our healthy anxiety as a positive force for growth. Just enough anxiety is the key to living and leading in our complex world. Rosen shows us in Just Enough Anxiety how this can work for us instead of against us.

Anxiety is about uncertainty. But this can be a motivator to make change for the better in times of uncertainty. After reviewing what triggers anxiety and the productive and nonproductive responses to it, Rosen gives us a powerful roadmap, a new model, and shows us how to re-wire our brain to making it a very useful tool in our lives. We must balance our need for protection and growth.


The anxiety gap is our current reality, problems and challenges,
and the distance of the gap to our desired outcome, opportunities and dreams.
If the gap is too small we may remain complacent and unmotivated and if the gap is too large we may be over whelmed and immobilized. To navigate the gap it takes an open mind of self-awareness, lifelong learning, and non-attachment. Then fuel movement through the gap with an open heart of emotional honesty, empathy and compassion, and emotional resilience.

When the head and heart are aligned emotional intelligence rises stimulating intellectual ability. We think clearly, communicate effectively, are creative, fulfill relationships and perform vibrantly. You create balance between these two desires by pushing, pacing, then taking time for rest and renewal.

Close the gap by identifying your target of change,
imagine desired outcomes, assess current reality,
analyze your ability to close the gap,
take one step at a time as you remain focused.
This gap is important to grow using uncertainty positively in your life.

Anxiety has three faces.
Too little anxiety or too much contentment, which can create boredom or stagnation.
A second face is too much anxiety which attacks change, combatant and controlling.
The ideal is the third face... just enough anxiety. You embrace change and challenges, search for opportunities, learn and grow.

Too little anxiety causes one to be detached, cautious, overpleasing, too idealistic. Too much anxiety causes one to be suspicious, a perfectionistic, volatile, egotistical. Just enough anxiety comes in the middle of these two... which is a balance. This then forms a productive energy to achieve sustainable growth. Bring the above two extremes to a middle place and there is productive action.

This creates a paradox... but a paradox of power. Learn the art of moving to the middle.
Here are some paradoxes of the middle between too little and too much anxiety.
Too little anxiety can be idealistic, but too much is cynical.
The middle power is optimistic and realistic.
You see things as they are, but have a positive path to initiate change for growth.

Too little anxiety can be complacent, too much careless or reckless.
The middle or just enough anxiety is constructive and impatient.
You choose to get on to get things done, but in a constructive well-conceived design.

Too little anxiety can be self-doubting, too much arrogant.
Just enough anxiety, in the middle, is humble and confident. Knowing you don't know everything but confident in finding other resources for gaining productive energy. Too little anxiety is ineffective energy, too much chaotic energy, but just enough anxiety is productive energy created by the synergy of paradox combined.

Just enough anxiety then is
optimistic and realistic,
constructive and impatient,
humble and confident.
These then create the power in the paradox.

Just enough anxiety leaders have an open heart which invites passion. In an age of lightening speed, they have confident humility nurturing trust. Needing something to believe in, realistic optimism focuses energy to that vision. Expanding knowledge and skills continually is vital in the frantic changing world, so the open mind fosters learning.
Constructive impatience is the fuel to ignite performance, producing results.

The organization develops around this wheel of open heart to open mind cylinder internalizing purpose and values, mobilizing productive relationships, creating shared direction, unleashing and harnessing creativity and innovation, completing the circle cycling to achieving performance excellence.

Tapping your full potential, just enough anxiety is the power force in your life as you commit to know yourself, be yourself, challenge yourself, and to love yourself.

Robert Rosen and Just Enough Anxiety are building Healthy Companies and their company of the same name has more tools and programs at
www.justenoughanxiety.com

It takes a little weirdness in our lives for us to grow. When things go well we have a tendency to become complacent and not grow.

When the Children of Israel were blessed by God, they became complacent and no longer served Him. They loved the blessing more than the one who provided the blessings. They loved the things around them, the things they enjoyed, but forget who brought them.

Too much niceness in life, takes the edge off which also eliminates the potential joy we get in victory and growth. Happiness is growth, and when we stop growing we cease having a sense of fulfillment. It takes some tension to get us to grow, and growing through challenges is where true growth and soundness of mind matures.

That's why the Apostles said that suffering brought joy.
Now that is a paradox of Scriptures.
Why would suffering, trials, struggles bring joy. Here is their take on the benefits of being challenged and it is actually good for our growth. As Rosen calls it "just enough anxiety."

Paul, the apostle, pointed out the value of struggles, just enough anxiety, in the problems we face. "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." (Romans 5: 3-5, NLT)

It increases our love for Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God, because it shows how much He is there and comes into our lives even more just when we need Him.

James begins his letter by saying that we should rejoice because of what trials, problems, anxieties of life, will produce in us. That we should look to its product, what it will cultivate in our lives. "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." (James 1:2-4, NLT)

So realize it will make us better than before, and with that we almost get excited about the idea. It takes some tension to cause us to grow... from muscle building to life attitude and mental strength building. To build muscle we must strain to lift more than we have before, then with rest, it builds up stronger for the next time. Tension, strain, then rest in Spirit, continues to build up Spiritual strength we have never had before. So we are happy with what it will bring us.

Without uncertainties of life, we don't press through the struggle to become a more powerful person. In that, even if someone has bad intentions and wants to hurt us, we can even rejoice because of what it will do for us. Making us better and stronger that without it we wouldn't have. So as James said we can consider it great joy.

Peter, the Apostle, chooses to address the same theme in the first chapter of his letter. "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world." (1 Peter 1: 6-7, NLT)

Our rewards are established when we prove we will endure the test. Any athlete knows he must actually perform to prove his abilities. Without the event, his skills are not proven. But when he does, the rewards are there.

The tension that challenges produce is a main ingredient for God's Spirit to accomplish the level of perfection He wants us to have in our lives. We can be glad and know that God is building this in us. And we are coming into the perfected Spirit He desires to implant in us.
"So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:13-16, NLT)

As you see, we will remain in His love and strength and be perfected so that we will be strong in Him. Because of these experiences, we thought were trials and struggles, we develop a inner stamina, a righteousness in Spirit that Peter refers to as Holy. We have strength in Spirit to not slip back in to our olds ways which revealed our weaknesses. We are stronger and can take on a much larger mission in our lives that God may very well be using all we have gone through to prepare us for it.

So rejoice!
He is building you up,
to be the better stronger person,
to do much more through your life for the Kingdom of God,
than you ever imagined.