Croz' recent video, ACTION, has inspired me to write this post, thanks Croz!

Have you ever wondered why it is that some people take action while others do not? Why is it that some are willing to do whatever it takes to change their lives while others will stay in the crap and whine about it even when a solution is offered? Ever since starting SOGR, I have sought to understand this, without judging people as being lazy-asses. Why is it that some make it and others do not? Croz says that it is because they fail to take the ACTION necessary once they've "read the book and seen the movie". But I then ask, "Why? Why do the not?"

Wally says in CHPT 4 of SOGR:

quote:

There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of sustained
and consecutive thought. It is the hardest
work in the world.

Believe it or not, many folks are comfortable in their misery-somehow their lifestyle (horrible as it may seem to the casual observer) is still working for them, and hence, they fail to take the necessary action. I have seen this phenomenon many time with people that ask me to heal them (I am also an energy worker) When I tell them that it's a two way street and that they have to take responsibility for their own health by taking certain steps, that I cannot fix them, they don't do the action necessary and would rather stay in their illness. At this point, I lovingly let them go. I am learning that help is for those that want it, not for those that need it, or that I think (with my ego)need it.


As for the action part,there are three kinds of "action" The first type of "action" is doing my art in the Certain Way"-that is with efficiency, intent, FAITH (the opposite of fear) and purpose. For me, it has also been following Wally's book to the letter as best I can and doing anything and everything necessary to keep the old subconscious programming in check. This is the part that to me, Wally means by "the hardest work in the world". It is...but only at first. After a while, it becomes easy and quite natural.

The second type is taking action when inspired (NOT getting into the "HOW" of it and ALLOWING) This at first was a point of confusion. Once I learned to get calm and peaceful and relatively free of fear, I was then able to RELAX enough to take INSPIRED action. This is the type of action that you take when you stop doing the "HOW" part and act only on inspiration when you are at peace.

The third type of action is most undesirable, and is borne out of fear. Where many fail is when one takes this type of fear-based action (getting into the "how") and one ends up spinning their wheels. It is THIS type of action that would come to mind when I first heard that word in SOGR. How wrong I was

I think that the reason many don't take the first type of action is that their subconscious programming stops them. Moreover, I think that for many, the fear of change is stronger than the pain that they're in from how their life is going. I have seen this in trying to help another addict or alcoholic-unless they are ready, unless they have completely surrendered, unless they are willing to do whatever it takes, there is NOTHING you can do, and they will fail to take the steps to break free of their addiction, despite being shown a tried and true way out. Unless they have SURRENDERED and ADMITTED COMPLETE DEFEAT, they will continue in their addiction until their death.


I have found that the same thing holds true for a potential student of SOGR. In coaching folks,(I coach for fun and because it helps me to keep SOGR fresh in my mind) the first thing I ask is this: Are you willing to do whatever it takes and follow the book 100%?" If they answer in anything but the affirmative, I tell them, "Come back and see me when you are ready and you're ready to get serious". I don't waste my time, because there may be somebody else that IS ready just waiting around the corner.
I think that for me, I was ready, willing, and desperate enough to try anything. I had "hit bottom" emotionally with my finances and how I was spending my time making a living. I had admitted to myself complete defeat-I had surrendered. In my case, the pain was much stronger than the fear, which is what I think needs to happen for folks to succeed with SOGR. What rung true for me is that SOGR is really a spiritual way of life, no gimmicks, no BS.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I am interested in seeing what others think about why some take action and why others do not.

Another great article Julia.

Love your Work

Abundance to All

Croz

Thank you for the lovely compliments on my work Croz.

HI,
thanks Julia for a great post. I am particularly impressed with your classification of action into 3 parts. Any method that will best help us understand it from a different angle is always welcomed. The action part is still something i haven't fully grasped.


I have a question on action for everyone that i will like answered: Assuming one has three
CMIs running concurrently, does it matter which of the CMI we have in our vision in order to be efficient or do we just focus on the one that is related to the particular action taken.Thanks.

Successfully Yours
Abdul.

This is a great topic. Kristina and I had a CMI. It was one on a whole dream board full of them. I posted a picture of the house we imaged and the house we received elsewhere in these forums. We are not rich yet. We are in a far better place then we were 5 years ago. We have doubled our income twice in that time. But, getting to the topic of why we do or don't take action. We live life and exist for two reasons really. I take a lot of this from Tony Robbins. I repeat it here because I believe it to be true. We live to have pleasure and we live to avoid or eliminate pain. Wattles says we achieve our CMI with faith and fixity of purpose. I may be wandering around a bit here but stick with me. I am getting to it. Now Kristina and I live in this brand new house that was built for us and we picked out the colors and materials we wanted. We have never lived in a brand new house. We have never had central air conditioning. It is wonderful. (We are already imaging our next new house) Every experience we have and every object in our life has an association of pleasure or pain for us. Most of us associate pain with altercations. Most of associate pleasure with Disneyland. In some philosophies it is noble and purifying to be poor. Believe it or not Kristina and I are having to reframe how we feel about living in a new house. The old association is that whenever anything good comes along something happens to take it away. The new association is that we deserve this new house and it provides comforts that we have never had before. If I associate more pain with the act of imaging than the pleasure I associate with owning a new house I will not continue to image the new house. Now the important part. I can choose the leverage. I decide that yes there is pleasure associated with getting rich. And there is intense pain associated with sitting on my butt doing nothing. Then there is the habit of feeling guilty when we own this house and people are starving in India. We create this whole web and then we destroy ourselves and any hope of moving ahead. What Kristina and I are trying to do now is to give ourselves big reasons for succeeding. We really want to figurativly rub the nose of people who hate us in our wealth. It becomes 'purpose'. The more reasons or purpose we have the stronger the pain of not doing and the stronger the pleasure of getting. There is this sick habit of feeling more comfortable living in squaler than living in luxury. How do we overcome it? We reframe. One of the ways we reframe is by reading SOGR daily. When you want to change a behavior you must get leverage on yourself. You must have purpose. You must have a list of all the pain not changing will bring you and you must have a list of all the pleaure changing will bring. Another element is the belief level. Part of that is self esteem. Everything I have mentioned can be changed. This requires the Correct Use of Will. I have a weird feeling that I did not properly convey what I was trying to put across but see if you get what I am saying.
Pete

Hey Julia

Interesting topic. The best way I can think of adding anything useful here, is by describing my own thoughts and actions on how TSOGR came into my own life. I fear that to try and present a view point, based on observation and offhand experiences with others, without being involved with them as you have been with your SOGR and Healing classes, would be just pure speculation and as you say, judgemental.

I have posted in my 'SOGR Introduction Profile', my perspective prior to TSOGR and I notice that Pete (blameiton) mentions that perspective in his post."In some philosophies it is noble and purifying to be poor". When I think about it now and try to come to some understanding of why I had that perspective, I would have to honestly say that it was a "belief". A belief that it really was noble to be poor. I'm still not sure how I came to that belief (I suspect it was life's programing) and frankly, I no longer care. Its out of my thoughts, out of my mind and out of my life!

But I digress. Beliefs, are one reason why some people may take action and others won't.

Having said that, I guess the question still arises, "how did TSOGR" come into my life.

Gee, when I started this post, I didn't realise I was going to paint myself into a confined space. Then again, it might be good self therapy! I will try to do so without pushing too hard on the judicious boundaries of these forums.

As I have mentioned in one or two earlier posts, I am a passionate gardener and have gardened according to the phillosphies espoused by Rudolph Steiner in his book "Agriculture. Spiritual Foundations For The Renewal Of;. Without harping on too much, what I would like to say is that the manner of growing food naturally, without recourse to fertillisers, was the main attraction for me. The fact that it required coming to an understanding and a belief of how the planets (cosmic, universe) influence the soil and hence the type of food that can be best grown there, was basically an event after the fact. I wanted to grow food without fertillisers and I had to develop understanding of how the planetary influences worked, which, if I can put it this way, also required more than a smidgen of belief.

As the title of the book infers, there are spiritual, as well as other connotations to the gardening practice which do not need emphasizing for this particular post. Suffice to say, when I decided to take up gardening in about 2000, I was reading the book over and over until I actually made my first real gardening attempt in 2003. The reason why it took so long to read the book was because of the language (1924) and words used, as well as the tone of the language, which was esoteric in nature and totally unlike the language used by Wally in TSOGR. Long story short, the gardening practises work, but as I mentioned earlier, it required more than a smidgen of belief. If anything, the more belief thrown into it the better. Now, just before I move on and in case some should wonder, the phillosphies espoused by Steiner, formed the foundations for the establishment of the worldwide Biodynamic Farming and Garden Association, established, if I recall correctly, sometime in the 1930s.

So! How did I come into TSOGR!

First of all, I saw the website advertised on one of the screen-savers that Rebecca sends out and which was on one of my sisters computer (don't know what if any progress she made on the course, she's in Australia). I went into the website, downloaded the book, read it in one hit.

Smack!!! Right between the eyes!!! I BELIEVE THIS!!!

The formless, the universe, God, despite the difference in perspectives pertaining to origins and so called "world views", the intended aims of growing nutritious food naturally and GETTING RICH "NATURALLY" overode such differences for me.

I accepted and I believed!

My acceptance and belief in what Steiner wrote and then to read the writings of Wally in similar vein; which, when combined, outweighed what I was experiencing in my "then" world, of the noble poor for no good reason or purpose.

I believed and I signed up for the course one week later! (had to organise the finances)

Sorry this is so long winded.
Hope it gives a good perspective.

Beliefs!

Blessings
Anaru

Julia,

I love your three types of actions! It answers quite well many of the questions about action that come up here over and over again. Let's see if I can boil it down.

Three types of action
1) mental/spiritual/emotional Housekeeping --
feeling good, releasing emotional blockages, changing old beliefs, finding and contemplating your CMIs, gratitude. Housekeeping is the first action to take and what Wally calls "the hardest work in the world." Neglecting this type of action is the surest way to fail at the SOGR system.

2) Inspired Action --
doing only those things which are so fun and exciting that you can't wait to do them. Inspired Action is the type of action that receives our gifts. This part is completely fun and easy IF you let can go of your (unnecessary) guilt and allow yourself to enjoy it.

3) Work --
is action that we take out of fear or a sense of necessity or obligation. It feels laborious and stressful and is completely counterproductive to the SOGR. Work is the traditional, competitive way of doing things and may produce some results, but it is definitely the hard way. Many people need to stop the cycle of stress and get some rest before they can take inspired action.

However, since it is the feeling and not the action per se that determines an action's effectiveness....
Perhaps there is a fourth type of action?

4) Zen --
Any action taken with a serene sense of happiness and complete focus on the task. Even actions usually classified as work could become Zen when done in the Certain Way. It's the attitude and feeling associated with the action that determines its effectiveness. That is why continuing to fill your current place can be living in the Certain Way and will eventually lead to riches when combined with the other SOGR principles.

What do you think?

Love and blessings,
Rachel

quote:

What do you think?

Cool. For me, your #4 is part of #2, Inspired Action.

quote:

We really want to figurativly rub the nose of people who hate us in our wealth.

What does this mean? Why not just bless or BLAST them instead? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but this SOUNDS a lot like a form of competitive mind. Hmm.

quote:

If they answer in anything but the affirmative, I tell them, "Come back and see me when you are ready

I think that's PERFECT, Julia.

It's very like what I did back when I first started studying and practicing what I understood from SOGR and my networking business skyrocketed. Suddenly all these people were saying, "Show me what you did. I want to do the same thing." I'd tell them to read the book. (SOGR, of course.)

Then, next time I'd see them, they'd repeat their request and I'd say, "What did you learn from the book?" and they'd say stuff like, "Oh, I haven't had time to read it yet."

So I'd say, "Well, it appears that you aren't coachable, so until you read the book, I have nothing else to offer you."

And it's also like the story I recounted in a post here recently about the hound dog lying on a nail and just howling away but not getting up and MOVING. Why? "It don't hurt enough yet."

Rachel said:

quote:

4) Zen --
Any action taken with a serene sense of happiness and complete focus on the task. Even actions usually classified as work could become Zen when done in the Certain Way. It's the attitude and feeling associated with the action that determines its effectiveness. That is why continuing to fill your current place can be living in the Certain Way and will eventually lead to riches when combined with the other SOGR principles.

What do you think?

I think that what you call "Zen" is how it feels when you are connected with the Universe and are living the principles of SOGR; that is to say acting and living on the creative, inspired plane. So I'm with Rebecca-it's like #2 type inspired action. Nice!

Rebecca said:

quote:

And it's also like the story I recounted in a post here recently about the hound dog lying on a nail and just howling away but not getting up and MOVING. Why? "It don't hurt enough yet." Big Grin

LOL!!

Julia, I think one of the main reasons that people don't take inspired action is because of their programming. EFT creator Gary Craig, calls it the Writing on your Walls. In our formative years, we had all kinds of people writing on the walls of our minds. And as we grew older, we began believing that writing and it hardwired into our brains. We don't even consciously know much of the time, what some of the writing is.

Like a computer, you can tell it to do anything you want to, but if it is not programmed to do that thing, it will not, CAN NOT. As we change our thoughts, question why we do and think things, look for ways to replace stinkin' thinkin', then those writings are gradually changed and replaced. This can be done traditionally, like affirmations over time. Or with methods like the Work, EFT, one command, etc.

The wonderful thing is, we can change the wiring. We can completely rewire and it can happen over time or in an instant. I love to see the look on people's faces when ten minutes ago they said something that they absolutely believed, and now they don't believe that at all.

I love my job. I love SOGR. Good thoughts. Thanks for sharing.

azsunbeam said:

quote:

Julia, I think one of the main reasons that people don't take inspired action is because of their programming.

EXACTLY! I was just talking to a friend about this very topic yesterday. She knows all about EFT TAT, and other forms of energy therapy and has seen it succeed in her own life. She was getting down on herself because she "forgets" to use these techniques when she's in pain and could not understand why. I said to her, "You're simply programmed to suffer, that's why.." She replied, "OMG, that's so true, that makes sense." So she agreed that she needed to tap on THAT old belief. Another friend listening to the conversation wants to learn more, so he's going to come over and my husband is going to walk him through the steps. I LOVE EFT too-it really is amazing and exhilarating to watch the transformation in people.

Me too. It's funny how sometimes it all just goes WHOOSH! And it's gone. And other things, you take off layer by layer. I am always surprised when remnants of an old belief surface. But, I always think it's a good thing, because it helps me get closer and closer to the core of truth within me.

quote:

The first type of "action" is doing my art in the Certain Way"-that is with efficiency, intent, FAITH (the opposite of fear) and purpose. For me, it has also been following Wally's book to the letter as best I can and doing anything and everything necessary to keep the old subconscious programming in check. This is the part that to me, Wally means by "the hardest work in the world". It is...but only at first. After a while, it becomes easy and quite natural.

I was inspired to re-read "The Secret" again, and it again reminded me that the action part of the the whole process is that of "receiving" just as Wally described in SOGR.

If we have unresolved issues in our subconscious, it arises when we apply the certain way as the action we take may not be entirely "perfect" in the sense that we are doubting the action because of these disbelieving thoughts, and using willpower to force ourselves to take that action can actually take us away from what we desire. This means that taking time to imagine what we really desire is more efficient than doing something that is not going to change our thoughts for the better at all.

The type of action Julia mentioned, is important initially, in my opinion, only to the extent that it helps me to change focus and shift my thoughts to begin to feel better about anything, even if it is remotely related to the situation at hand. I usually find that these type of actions, have to be taken only when even if it takes some kind of effort initially, you know in your mind that you will feel better after taking it. What I think differentiates an action of this type, with the unproductive kinds is that the unproductive ones are set up in your mind to fail already, before you even take a single step. The type of action mentioned, although may require some effort initially, leads me to feeling good about myself, and that is the kind that may spark me to begin to start shifting my thoughts to feel even better than initially.

What I find fascinating is that when I am more and more aware of this type of action, that results in feeling good, i realize that the thoughts are the key denominater, the cause, of whether this action is efficient or inefficient. As a result, I start to take only more and more "inspired" actions! It's a steady progression of more and more efficient actions, rather than a sudden change, and I bet most of us go through the same sort of progress.

Like Wally says, we may have to temporarily experience some "pain" if we have unwittingly put ourselves in an unfavourable position, but, in the end, the change is always a change for the better in our thoughts first, even if it appears to be action first, because the positive change comes from the thoughts,not the actions in and of itself.

quote:

I usually find that these type of actions, have to be taken only when even if it takes some kind of effort initially, you know in your mind that you will feel better after taking it. What I think differentiates an action of this type, with the unproductive kinds is that the unproductive ones are set up in your mind to fail already, before you even take a single step. The type of action mentioned, although may require some effort initially, leads me to feeling good about myself, and that is the kind that may spark me to begin to start shifting my thoughts to feel even better than initially.

What I find fascinating is that when I am more and more aware of this type of action, that results in feeling good, i realize that the thoughts are the key denominater, the cause, of whether this action is efficient or inefficient. As a result, I start to take only more and more "inspired" actions!

Kevin,

I'm really interested in your post. Can you give examples of actions that might might be considered unproductive and taking more effort versus the actions that might lead one to feeling good about one's self and be considered more efficient.

I find myself stuck a bit and could benefit from your insight.

Thanks!
Brian

Brian, maybe I can help. I want to promote my business so I am going to take 2 actions.

1. Ok everyone does it so I am going to put some ads in the local papers. It is going to cost money and I will have to wait for weeks for the first phone call but eventually they will start coming in. Here goes.

2. How wonderful! I have this fabulous presentation that my friend made and I am so looking forward to showing it to people. They are going to love hearing all that information and I know that some of them will be interested in becoming a customer. We're going to have fun here, I cannot wait to get started!

I think the examples speak for themselves. How do you think actions 1 and 2 are going to make me feel? Which ones do you think will be most successful, considering what you have learned about SOGR? Does this help you see your own business actions in a new light, Brian?

Kevin, these are my thoughts and I may be way off course with what you had in mind but I trust we are all going to learn from this exchange of thoughts.

God bless you,

Caroline
My Gift To You: 50,000 Guaranteed Visitors To Your Site

quote:

Kevin, these are my thoughts and I may be way off course with what you had in mind but I trust we are all going to learn from this exchange of thoughts.

Yes caroline. I am also waiting to learn from this "EXCHANGE OF THOUGHTS"

successfully yours
Abdul.

Caroline,

I think these are good examples. Obviously,you're excited by the opportunities of the second example and given the principles of sogr, should experience more success.

The second example is something I can really relate to and goes along with part of the reason why I think I am struggling a bit.

For the past year, I've been trying to build a network marketing business with little success. I get excited about the opportunity to share this with others and to help others save and make money. But I'm obviously doing something wrong--only one person has joined my team in a year of sharing this with others.

The upline leaders have been so helpful and encouraging yet I'm not being very successful. I see others in this organization build a big team and wonder what I'm doing wrong.

I don't want to quit and give up either. I have several people that are "considering" joining my team but I think they are watching to see if it is going to work out for me.

I obsess over building this business. It's the first thing I think about when I wake up--think about it all day long. I believe it is a great opportunity for me and my family and is a huge part of my cmi.

Anyway, I know I need to chill out and realign my thinking.

I am looking for inspired action.

Thanks,
Brian