On the three wise monkeys, and MORE . . .
“See no Evil, Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil”
(Edit — I remembered this after initially submitting the article — with what is going on in today’s world — what I’m about to say holds doubly — triply — if not MORE — true!)
We’ve all heard it, my friend. The three wise monkeys as it were, and this above quote is most commonly associated with Gandhi (yes, the “Mahatma, hehe).
Now while I’m no huge fan of Gandhi, some of his quotes are worth remembering.
The one that is NOT though is the one most commonly paraded around in day to day life — — that being the “see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil” philosophy.
I wrote about being real — and being YOU in a prior post, and for good reason as well. All too often people have this idea that if all they “focus” on is the positive (and when we’re talking social media — this is taken to giddy limits in terms of selfies and other “good times) — while completely ignoring the negative — then those “good things” will somehow keep manifesting.
Keeping it real is a central tenet in all my writings — philosophies I follow in life — and in general, that is exactly how I live my life.
I’ve often been “castigated” for being the person that speaks out and says it like it is — but yet, curiously enough (not!) I’m also the guy that people come to when they want to know what the REAL SCOOP is — either in terms of fitness or otherwise, and that is one of the reasons people follow me on my website, endorse my products, etc etc.
It’s nigh amazing how many people these days think of “visualization” as a process where you focus SOLELY on the positive, and nothing else.
It’s equally amazing how many people have this idea of posting glossy selfies and other “feel good” pictures on social media will not only banish the blues from their own lives — — but also other people’s lives.
Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing at all wrong with sharing positive occurrences, but social media has made FAKE people out of all us. I can smell B.S. in 90% plus of social media posts these days — even the ones which don’t focus so much on pictures as they do “positive stuff” in writing.
How many times do we see a post on Linkedin — or any other social media channels about FAILURES? About the tough times when one is “on the way” to achieving a goal?
When
And yet THESE stories are far more useful in many regards than simply “lauding the ones that got there”, and posting glossy pictures of you “getting there as well”.
Ask Jack Ma if he’s an advocate of sharing success stories or those of failure — and he’ll tell you right away that he’d rather tell you the 100 or so ways Alibaba failed rather than the one time it succeeded (don’t get me wrong — that one time is important — but it’s not the only thing that happened along the road to success for him — by FAR!).
Yes, you do focus on what you WANT as I said before, but on the other hand, you keep a foot in the real world as well — preferably two feet.
It’s astounding how many people on social media, as well as in real life think that if they “ignore the negatives”, they won’t show up in their life, and what they do want will miraculously manifest.
No they won’t!
Inspired ACTION is what causes anything good to manifest — — and unless you have impetus and DESIRE behind that action, it’ll be anything but inspired, and your desired changes just won’t manifest.
And the way you get that intense red hot spark of desire going is NOT simply by focusing on what you do want.
Sure, thats the first step. But after you do that, you also take a look at where you are NOW — in the here and NOW — with equal focus, except this time the focus is on “how you do NOT want this in your life any longer”.
Long story short — you focus on two things at a a time — one in terms of NOT wanting it, and the other in terms of wanting — and GETTING it.
And this holds true for both fitness as well as life, my friend.
In terms of life, I’ve often spoken about one of the secret keys I use while visualizing.
While I visualize what I WANT to manifest in my future and infuse energy from past successes into it, I also visualize myself on another screen simultaneously — that screen showing where I am NOW with regard to whatever goal it is I’m looking to achieve.
The incongruity between these two images is really what sparks the emotion that in turn drives the subconscious into action — which then products real RESULTS — given you’ve got some real desire going in terms of the “to be” picture in the first place.
Simply visualizing the goal is fine, but it doesn’t do much in terms of telling your brain where you are in the HERE AND NOW — and often times, people fall into the trap of thinking that “visualizing the future” is all they have to do and their problems will magically melt away.
No they won’t.
If you’re currently unable to do a single pushup — create TWO “movie screens” in your mind — as I said before, one on the left and one on the right.
Play the current YOU along with the associated emotions of “how you don’t want this” along with the FUTURE image of a happy, confident, FIT you … again, along with the associated images.
In other words, you focus on what you do want — while keeping what you don’t want in mind all the time to make sure that focus gets stronger by the day!
Powerful concept indeed, and one I’ve used personally back in the day to attain my handstand pushup goals — — as well as more than a few goals I set in terms of pull-ups.
You too, my friend can do the SAME thing!
Write back, and let me know how it goes for you.
Best, and keeping it REAL -
Rahul Mookerjee
P.S. If motivation is your thang (and lets face it, we could all use a dose of REAL WORLD motivation and inspiration) — — then my latest book Gumption Galore is for you, my friend. I’ve put together 50 motivational “from the heart” REAL WORLD tips — and tales — for you in there — a must read if you’re in any way, shape or form serious about improving your life. Folks have been raving about it ever since I put it out on the 21st or so … check it out right here : — https://0excusesfitness.com/gumption-galore/.
