What I am about to say has nothing to do with what you may have associated with the title of this thread. I am continuing to work with the ES course and many of the other success and self-improvement stuff we've been discussing on this forum.

I have decided for one week to abstain from using my computer for anything other than communication (emails and this forum), genuine research (following my curiosity), and work (what I get paid to do). To give you an example, I don't watch TV but I have been an avid and somewhat compulsive sports fan. I particular am prone to following basketball and cycling. Now that Le Tour de France has ended, I want to find out what happens if I stop seeking entertainment via the internet.

I am not sure why I was moved to post this on the forum, but as I contemplated what to title the thread, the words "giving up" came to me straight away. "Giving up" has a bad connotation for most English speakers, but the way I am thinking of it is to give up, as in release, surrender to God (I'm thinking of Margaret Ida's "Heavenly Father".

As many of you may have gathered from reading my previous posts, I am quite fond of questions. I generally find good questions to be far more useful in my own process than assertions about the way things are, how things work, how to do something, etc.

So, the question that is occurring to me right now is this: "What am I willing to give up to be successful?" I've already gotten my first answer - no habit based internet entertainment this week. I wonder what will happen if I keep this question in mind as I continue working with the Law of Attraction?

My invitation to all of you is to ask yourself this question: "What am I willing to give up to be successful (achieve my goals, get what I want)?", post your answer, commit to following through with it, and then report back to us with what you are noticing as you move forward with that commitment.

I commit to doing this and reporting back next week. Any other takers?

Stevers

Go for it, Stevers! I like your way of involving forum members in an accountability partnership. It challenges to action - and not just mental gymnastics.
Your title "giving up" did seem to suggest the thought of 'quitting' (maybe even on the program!). But by the end of your post I was seeing your meaning as more in the manner of 'sacrificing' - or depriving oneself of something pleasurable in order to do something of greater value to you. Unfortunately, this concept still seems to have an underlying negative feeling to it for me.
Somewhere in the middle of you post, however, I started reading it as 'giving UP' and feeling the impact of a new perspective. It reminded me of a story from the LDS scripture, The Book of Mormon, where a king was taught about the joy and hope of the gospel. His response was first a question - "What shall I do that I may have this [thing] of which thou has spoken?" Then an material sacrifice - "I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." Upon being advised that he must approach God in faith and repent of his sins, he '...cried mightily, saying:...wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will GIVE AWAY all my sins to know thee...' (emphasis added).
I see this as 'giving UP' - where participation in the former activities becomes insignificant in view of the new (higher) goal or purpose that has been opened to you. They are no longer particularly useful and you give them away in order to move up.

Now - my personal application... I have developed a pattern of sitting up at night doing puzzles until I doze off in my chair or writing e-mails until I notice that it is after midnight and I am exhausted. Then I rouse myself just enough to transfer to the bed without doing any particular closure to the day. I often get insufficient rest and feel disorganized and incomplete. I am going to 'give up' late nights and make 10pm a target for closing my day and getting to bed.
Looking forward to follow-up next week! May you create some success in your day!
Margaret Ida

Margaret,

Thanks. Yes, the story you told from The Book of Mormon is just what I mean. Yes, there is a certain pleasure that comes for me with following cycling and basketball online, but something in me knows that behavior really isn't currently aligned with my "my highest good", and I need to give it away.

Incidentally, I am told that "repent" literally means "to turn around". The way I translate it is - to turn around and face whatever I am thinking or doing and see it for what it is, without blame or judgment. Just see it. I have also heard that the word "sin" translates to "miss the mark". When I turn and face these things that I'm doing in my life and recognize that I am somehow missing the mark, I have the opportunity to make a fresh course correction.

"Surrender" and "giving up" get a bad rap in this win at all costs culture of ours. But the more I am able to look through the lens of a larger (spiritual) context, the more it seems that I have a great deal to gain by letting go of the things that I think define me - thoughts, behaviors, possessions, and the like.

As I continue to dance with the Law of Attraction via Jack Canfield, Noah St. John, Joe Vitale, and the rest of the pantheon of money making manifesting maestros, the words of Jesus continually echo in my background thoughts - "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, and all else shall be given unto you." Hell yeah, I want to achieve my goals and improve my lot in life, but in many ways I previously felt like I was putting the cart before the horse. At the moment "giving up" feels like an appropriate course of action, the backward step that may naturally give rise to a truly authentic brand of progress.

Thanks for being willing to take me up on the invitation to action. I look forward to hearing what shows up for you.

Stevers

I agree with you Margaret Ida, go for "giving up" Stevers, which ever interpretation suits. I liked how you both explored the different slants on giving up.

Funny, Margaret Ida, that you talk about quitting ES. Well the possiblity of quitting, even raising that spectre makes me feel uneasy.

So I think the aspect of Giving Up that I would like to work on is giving up doubt. It is a secret let-off clause I use: it keeps me at arm's length (a safety net for me) from true commitment. From time to time I indulge in doubts. Will ES work? What happens if it really does? What happens if it doesn't? You can see from the previous questions that doubt really leads to nothing but circular arguments.

The flipside of the doubt coin is TRUST or FAITH. Trust is easier for me to contemplate as I don't really have a religious or spiritual focus. So I have opted to examine what it means to have faith.

I looked up faith in the web-dictionary and it means:
1) allegiance to duty or a person;
2) fidelity to one's promises;
3) sincerity of intentions:
4) belief, trust in and loyalty to ...X...;
5) firm belief in something for which there is no proof;
6) complete trust
7) something that is believed with especially strong conviction.

You know I feel a bit like a closet alcoholic when I read what faith actually means. I try on ES, flatter myself, play with it, but when the going gets challenging, I revert to the old tried-and-trusted routines (that don't work!). Complete trust seems to be elusive. Sincerity of intentions: likewise, how sincere can I be when I go all luke-warm on ES when I should be deepening my relationship to it? My scientific background also expects proof. Proof makes ES valid. I don't want magic or dreams. No, I want ES to be a science. Not much scope for unquestioning faith and complete trust there, is there?

By way of wonderful synchronicity, one of my visiting nieces is a fundamentalist Baptist ( - so extreme in her religious beliefs). Though I do not agree with her religious convictions, she has 100% faith. She trusts God will deliver on his/her promises. You know, whether I like to admit it or not, this young woman lives full-time in the present. She doesn't worry herself with questions, God is there and will stand by her and deliver her to eternal life. So what is there to worry about? She takes everything in her stride. What is, is. She accepts it. She is very balanced and disciplined. I believe this ability to have faith, to know without doubt that God (or ES in my case) will keep his word, is a key ingredient to both serenity and adopting an appropriate stance to ES.

I would like to learn to trust. To have faith. To have absolute faith in myself. It is myself that I don't wholly trust - yet!
Adieu,
French Claire

I was just referred to an interesting set of 3 e-books. You can get them through http://tinyurl.com/ngweez. They talk in terms of quanta - as in quantum physics. I think the one that addresses the belief question - the one called 'The Revolutionary Premises of Your Own Power' - would be of most interest to you, French Claire. It is another way of approaching the idea that it isn't so much 'seeing is believing' as it is 'believing is seeing.'
Complete trust, or faith, does indeed allow for a firm foundation on which to plant one's feet and from which one can exercise great power. You may have heard the expression "power of convictions." Cynicism and doubt are great excuses for holding back from putting everything you are capable of into reaching for your goals. They keep you always testing your balance and never fully committed - in fear of getting hurt or appearing foolish in somebody's eyes (maybe even your own!).

It is a real paradigm shift to give up the excuses. But it is so worth it! Believe me. I know. I've been there. And I still struggle with the old patterns way too often. If you hold my hand, I'll hold yours and together we can strengthen one another and step confidently forward into the realization of our potentials.
May we create some personal power today!
Margaret Ida

Hi Margaret Ida,

the tinyurl link does not work.

In working through ES I feel that the procedures recommended in the course are very logical. Meditating under a tree in the garden everyday and whole day will most unlikely get you delivered free groceries, exemption from bills, etc. It is the combination of actions and goals which will make you succeed. Of course, you need alignment... a dispersive person will waste energies and achieve very little.

The strength of ES is to put together a nice procedure on how to succeed in life all across. You need to have faith in your own actions, which need to be doable. French Claire's niece is doing ES through religion. I find this to turn out to be tricky because sooner or later there will be clashes with science and reality (eg why did the Pope, who is infallible by dogma, oblige Galileo to house arrest for the latter part of his life when the scientist make major discoveries in planetary science without worrying about God?).

Recapping what I have heard so far on this thread: Steve is giving up compulsive Internet monitoring of sports, Margaret Ida is giving up staying up late doing puzzles and/or emails, and French Claire is giving up doubt. Unique Soul, are you going to take action and join in our game, or are you just going to comment on our actions?

French Claire, I'd like to offer a few impressions:

"Doubt" seems me a kind of intellectualized fear. Fear happens in the body. Doubt is something we do in our thinking.

Faith, on the other hand, in my own experience, is neither a thought nor a feeling. It is a knowing based on a deep seeing of the way things actually are. Faith requires a suspension of what we think we know in order to find out what we know deep down, beyond thoughts and feelings. Faith is beyond belief. Faith opens the heart. These are my personal definitions.

I'm not talking about the faith of a religious fundamentalist. In my opinion, this is often iron clad thinking masquerading as faith. Yes it "works" in a certain way, but it works in a way that creates separation and backlash - Us and Them, right vs. wrong. I do not find the heart of a religious fundamentalist to be open.

Something that I am discovering is that the way I think and feel is not actually in my control. That doesn't mean thoughts cannot and do not change. They most certainly do. But they are no controllable, per se. Behaviors appear to be more within the realm of what I can control.

French Claire, I can't help but wonder if attempting to give up doubt is just setting yourself up for failure, because it is based in part in thought and in part in emotion, things that appear, to me at least, to be beyond our direct control. I wonder about the fears underneath the "What if..." thoughts, and I wonder, for example, what would happen for you (and me, I certainly have my doubts about ES and a lot more), were you feel and release (a la Sedona Method or other practice) those fears.

I also wonder if there is a behavior you could give up that indirectly relates to your sense of doubt, something that is more within your direct control. Something that could perceptibly "influence" (different than "control") your relationship to doubt and/or faith? Something measurable (read: scientific), accountable, reportable and potentially celebrate-able?

Incidentally, I have a friend/teacher named Jerry Stocking (a very, very interesting man, if you ask me) who once wrote a book called How to Win by Quitting. Food for thought.

Stevers

Hi Uniquesoul,
I had to smile when I read your post and the reference to my niece (an Ozzie, by the way) and clashes between science and reality. No sir, no clashes here. To give a flavour of what it means to be a fundamentalist: She is 100% commited to her god, and in return she is saved (= life after death). She doesn't need to strap her son into the car with a seat belt because she trusts god implicitly and explicitly - if her son's time is up, it is up, seat belt or not. What is written in the old testament of the Bible is the word of god, so science or anything else for that matter doesn't even enter into the frame.

It doesn't serve to enter into a debate on the validity of her religious indoctrination. I mentioned this because I could not fail to notice that the up-side of 100% faith is absolute serenity. She worries not about the future (for it is assured), she regrets nothing she has done (she has repented), she lives by the word of god (in her view) and she lives entirely in the present. Whether the moderate amongst us want to admit it or not, she lives a rich, contented and serene life. She has FAITH, and believes god's promises without need of proof.

I agree that the procedures Jack has proposed in ES are very logical. I enjoy his straight-forward approach. Think positively always. Set goals - preferably really exciting, rewarding ones, and take action. Ask. Prepare to receive.

Nonetheless I have found there is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip - or easier said than done. While I focused on the positive, created mouthwatering dreams, and I even managed (and continue to manage) to take action, some elements of my old patterning continue to surface. I had assumed that I could step into the ES lifestyle and remain there, practising my daily disciplines etc. and (like my niece) assuredly 'getting there' in the end.

Reality (I don't like my work), my past (which only raised it's torments once I got into ES), my erroneous programs and wonky perceptions about myself and others are still very present. Just as ES is present. Only now I have to deal with both sides of the coin simultaneously.

A few months into the ES challenge, I feel that I am making progress, but I will have to travel the whole journey. My current challenge is to get in touch with my feelings. For almost half a century I have selectively accepted, ignored or dismissed them. For me, at this moment, there are no short cuts to Effortless Success. Being in touch with my feelings is challenging at times (I often don't know how I feel).

Letting go of desperation (and Joe Vitale's Expect Miracles book has made the difference between desperation and effortless anticipation crystal clear)was another personal journey. I had to pinpoint the invisible boundary between faithful anticipation and overzealous desperation.

Stever's and Margaret's playful allusions to 'giving up' wobbled my security a bit too (no point in not being honest). This tested my faith. If a smart guy like Stevers can question it, well do I really want to stand naked and holding the batton? Fortunately this feeling of insecurity was fleeting. Faith rebuilt my motivation.

Faith, unquestioning faith in myself, is a challenge for another day, another bridge to cross on the ES journey. I also need to forgive myself for all the cruelty I have inflicted upon myself - I am far gentler on others than on myself.

Enough said.
I wish you all a magnificent day - and an even better one to come.
Adieu,
French Claire

Hi Stevers,
Neat move there Stevers, putting that challenge to Uniquesoul. It may feel safer to comment from the sidelines but taking part in the action is more rewarding (and sometimes very intense!). I want to grow by doing it, not reading it!

And thank you for your meticulous reflections via a Loving Mirror. Will have to ponder what you say. I have no doubt there is merit in it, just don't know if my need to let go of doubt is so complex in nature (yet!). My doubt is often irrational, a bad habit linked to depression and helplessness.

Here is today's experience in giving up doubt and experiencing trust/faith in its place. I had to laugh! Life really is a comedy sometimes.

My niece is driving up to Paris to collect her Dad for our family reunion. My two (very precious) kids offered to accompany her so as to show her around that magnificent city. Through 'coincidence' I discovered she drives really fast, breaking speed limits (trust in God). I felt worried and hardly slept last night. Why was I entrusting my children to someone who is potentially a dangerous driver? {Stevers: I felt the fear just under my diaphragm.]

At 6 a.m. we saw them off. Requesting the driver to drive within the speed limit if she had our kids on board and telling the kids to take responsibility and watch she did just that. I let them go and turned over doubt.

It worked OK and I have had a peaceful day. All arrived in Paris safely.

But get this: I opened my letter box when I got home and found a SPEEDING FINE. Mine. My first ever. For driving 97 km/hr in a 90 km/hr zone. I was flashed at the end of June apparently by a speed camera that has been installed in mid-June.

As they would say in French, c'est bizarre!
Adieu,
French Claire

Hi French Claire,

If your niece has such a perfect life, why don't you follow her in her footsteps? She lives a great life without any worries at all. She must have a great job, lots of money coming in and all the rest. All you need is a Baptist bible and attend Baptist services. It will all come to you EFFORTLESSLY... your life is in God's hands so there is nothing to worry about. Even your speeding ticket was planned by your niece's God. You do not have to worry about the future.... keep repenting about everything in your past. Ask your niece to make you meet somebody who got saved by God after death!

So why did your niece not walk to Paris? After all there are no cars mentioned in the Bible. Why did your niece use an airplane to arrive from Australia? God did not make the airplane... no airplane construction plans in the Bible!

I prefer to follow ES and the teachings of other experts like Jack Canfield. If you start questioning religious people in a very logical way, they get very upset as they are confronted with the limitation of their believes.

French Claire, I like the story of the speeding fine. In NAB terms, you were concentrating on the negatives of speeding, you sent out the negative energy and you got a result to match your vibration. Ce n'est pas bizarre du tout!

I cannot understand, however, why any thinking person would follow a set religion like christianity, or dare I even mention it, islam!

You can usually tell how strong the foundation of a religion is by how intensely its staunch followers react to criticism: christians do a lot of whining and moaning and getting in the way, like the nun who got all arsey about the filming of 'The Da Vinci Code' and sat on some church steps and disrupted filming; muslims start strapping bombs to themselves. Go figure!

Laugh at a true Buddhist (capital letters where I feel they are deserved), question his beliefs, and he won't care a jot. I know Buddhsim isn't perfect, but it seems far less burdened with all the offence-taking and revenge that seems to preoccupy certain world religions.

The only way religion can maintain a hold on people is by indoctrinating them and hobbling them with the fear of sin and hellfire and damnation, you know, by the loving god who cares for all his children and if you don't do what he says you'll spend eternity in hell, because he loves you so much. You've got to laugh! Yet people live by this rubbish.

The bible is so full of contradictions, my favourite being from Exodus...

'Thou shalt not kill'
(Exodus 20:13)

Few pages later...

'Thus sayeth the LORD God of Israel, "Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour"'.
(Exodus 32:27)

So, which is it then?

YOU know in yourself what is right and that's the point!

Anyway, apparently they - the NAB crowd, the likes of Greg Bradden at alia - say that God is yin energy and is therefore, female. And you know what? Looking at the state of the world, I believe him! LOL!

No, but seriously, bibles do have their place. I just wish they'd make them from thicker paper because my middle finger keeps slipping through the pages. Can get rather messy!

Well in an effort to stay on topic!!

I will speak of what I do/have given up to accomplish on target.

1. TV (99+%)
2. Radio with commercials (100%)
3. Gossip (99%)
4. Listening to gossip, unless resisting creates more of a hassle; then I default to 'pretending to listen' and comment in short and move on...
5. Engaging in 'off-topic' conversations with anyone that does not adhere to my own 'One Ideal' or what I perceive to be theirs. (this can be crap shoot admittedly divining theirs)
6. Daydreaming 'off-topic', but when I do; analysis it and deal with the underlying emotions or issues.

This is the 'negative' side of the equation.
I spend much more toward what I feel/see/know as my 'One Ideal'. This is the 'positive' side of the equation and I count progress by its weight.

P.S. I dare someone to start a thread like...

'How much does your religion contribute or confound your plan to success?'

OR

'My religion must suck, cuss everyone I know practicing is miserable, can this be true for you?'

OR

'Ok, I need to 'de-program' from this religion, can you assist me?'

Kind Regards,

Greetings all,

Thank you Yukala, for your input and willingness to join in the game! I appreciate you challenges, and I appreciate your willingness to go for it regarding the things you are willing to give up. I look forward to hearing how it goes for you as you continue with it.

Interesting that I was in the midst of composing a post as your reply came in. Here is what I wrote, posted, and to which I have now added as an edit what I am saying up to this point...now:

Although I find discussions of religion and spirituality, fundamentalism and faith, and all manner of nuances of this and that, at times quite enjoyable, I need to say that I began this particular thread with something else in mind. In my opening post, I shared a decision I had made to give up the compulsive monitoring of internet sports for one week, linked to the question: What am I willing to give up to be successful? I ended that post by committing to a series of actions and invited others in this forum to do the same. Two members (French Claire, Margaret Ida, and now Yukala) have since taken me up on the invitation. Two (Unique Soul and Inchiki Gaijin), as of yet have not.

I cannot help but notice that what started out as a call to action has turned into a kind of intellectual bantering about fundamentalists and fundamentalism, ostensibly because French Claire mentioned her niece within the context of describing her relationship to doubt, which I understand her to have made the commitment to give up.

I realize I am not God (nor Buddha, for that matter) nor am I the one who set up this forum. I don't make the rules. But I think I was quite clear with the tone I set and the invitation and request I made to the members of the forum in the opening post of this thread. I am also very clear that my chief intention with this forum is to gain and give support from/to others in taking action to improve the quality of our lives using the principles and practices of Learning Strategies Effortless Success personal learning course.

I realize that others who have joined this forum may not share this same core intention. I also recognize that Learning Strategies provides very few guidelines regarding intentions and decorum of interactions on any of its forums. I currently see it as a free for all. Nevertheless, I am finding many of the posts on this thread annoying, because they indicate to me intentions that are not fully aligned with what I am primarily here for. I realize that this is speculation on my part in that I cannot really know another person's intentions. I am simply drawing conclusions based on my observations.

As I've said, I do not run this forum. Even so, my request is that, in the future, if folks want to have a discussion about philosophy (in this case the advantages and pitfalls of fundamentalism) that they simply begin a new thread with an appropriate title. That way, those of us who are committed to action and supporting each other in growing via applying the Law of Attraction with the ES course (in conjunction with other related success-oriented resources) can do so in a more contained and focused manner. That said, I reserve the right to join in the less action-based and success-oriented, more heady and philosophical discussions when I'm looking for that brand of entertainment (which is what they currently represent to me).

Thank you,
Stevers

Hear! Hear! Stevers!
Go for the gold!
How goes it with your action commitment? Have you found a rewarding alternate to internet sports this week?
I am still finding myself up later than I think is wise - but I am feeling good about doing more constructive things than compulsive puzzle-solving. Hooray for baby-step number one!
I'm also rooting for you, French Claire. If I may make a suggestion, choosing to recognize one thing you absolutely do believe in (maybe that the sun will rise tomorrow? - or that your mother loves you?) might be a start. As you add to your list of things you do believe in and feel the confidence you have in those things, I expect you will find that 'faith' and confidence grow in your life and your doubts fade away.
I add my thanks to Yukala for contributing to the refocusing of this thread. Your list of things you have gotten under control is indeed impressive. Would you care to comment on 'what you are noticing as you move forward' as Stevers proposed initially? And do you, by chance, have anything else you would like to add to challenge yourself to 'give up' and share with us here?
May we all create some peace within today!
Margaret Ida

Sorry I overlooked that salient point; 'what you are noticing as you move forward' as that would be fun to focus upon.

However, to present a more 'whole' picture I will add one more thing in this 'negative' column before pointing out that the other side (in my view), that of being pro-active doing positive things - together make the whole thing work.

For indeed what gets one excited about 'giving something up' if not some dear anticipated gain? Discipline breeds discipline however, so if you give things up you will mostly likely take up something more worthwhile that bears the promise of gaining ground.

My seventh point somewhat complicated:

For me point 7: I gave up frivolous dreaming. I have imposed a much higher standard of discipline in my sleeping time; dreams, traveling, and use of lucidity.

But again, I am reminded of not yet following out my positive agenda to a more determined and rhythmic implementing of various disciplines that are very poignant to apply at ones body sleep time.

I am near 100% lucid all night (so seeming, for it varies in degree or intensity); even every night and have been for decades. (another subject as to 'why' that might be, however)

What am I noticing? Still not enough freed up time to attend each day to all I would wish to do. And I am somewhat more at peace about it though, for I just push the time-lines out...


I AM eternal you know!! Though some objectives are 'not negotiable'.

Hi all

I was away last week, and just discovered Stevers challenge. I too would like to join in. Actually, when I first read it, it reminded me of a line from the poem- The Invitation-“ ..it doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.” I’m not sure why that immediately came to mind- but in reading thru the rest of the post- the flames seemed to light up from your challenge!

I am ready to give Up ( release actually sounds better to me) my constant busy-ness that fills my day and prevents me from doing what I know I truly want to do. I intend and create the time to take steps toward my goals, then fill in that time with a variety of things that really have no importance in the outcome of my life, the sudden urge to vacuum, run an errand that could wait a month, or even volunteer for an extra shift at work. I am very creative about this- and could call it being productive, however, none of these things move me towards the direction I want to be going in. So, for this week, I will allow the space I create to fill with activities that move me forward, and when the ‘urge’ to fill the space with non-essentials arrives- I will redirect- as much as possible. This is a big challenge for me- surrender & release- but I feel your post came at the perfect time for me.

French Claire- You talked of needing proof, and seeking faith ( sorry, I don’t know how to do those cool quote boxes) Wayne Dyer just published a book “Excuses BeGone”, and in the first part of it, he reviews a lot of the latest scientific research and proof that your perceptions have the power to change everything about your life. One of the many sources he refers to is The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton. I really enjoyed this book- but I am an avid fan of his, & have read all of his stuff. You might find something that satisfies your quest in one of these books.

Brenda

Hi all - As with some others, my first response was.. give up? oh no! Then I saw it was to Give Up (aka, release, surrender, etc). Oh yes!

I was out of town as well. And as some others have mentioned on other threads... taking a vacation from work also ended up being a vacation from ES, daily disciplines, and some of my progress. Arrghh.

Many great ideas here and a common thread among some that I am synching with... Stevers' and Margaret Ida's and Yukala's external derailers (TV, internet, email, gossip, ads, and similar fun-but-frivolous stimuli). And the busy-busy-ness of Brendann, Yukala and all of us who find ourselves saying... where did the Time go? A big one for me.

Lastly, Claire's dance with doubt... for me, I sometimes discover that when I doubt "others", further reflection often reveals an inner self-doubt to be at the core. Do you find that to be the case as well sometimes? Especially easy to realize when those I am questioning are already where I want to be! Surrendering my previously programmed need to be "safe and right" wakes me up usually.

Since I believe in the idea that it takes something like 21 days to break/form a habit and I would like make these permanent changes in my psyche... this will be my month of August commitment to myself.

So - I allow myself to release, to surrender, to give up:

1) the need to fill my hours with derailers - actions not oriented toward my goals (the big ones as well as the mundane daily-chores ones) like surfing internet/TV, readng all the junk mail, spending too much time with email, "unproductive" daydreams. This has become a bad habit lately.

2) self-doubt - I will use Sedona Method, which has helped me in other areas. My normal cycle tends to be:
Goals and Action Plan >>> Good Start >>> Self-Doubt (often sub-conscious so not noticed at first) >>> Magic Derailers Appear allowing for >>> Procrastination >>> in order to focus on Busy-ness (See #1) which really = Self-sabotage >>> disappointment in myself which in turn = more reason to doubt myself in future.

What a rollercoaster... dizzying.
Thanks to Stevers and all for this timely thread - Colleen

Wow! - two great posts that really hit home from Brendann and Col.
Thank you for putting it so clearly and concisely.
I have recently been noticing myself using up my hours in busy-ness and 'derailers'. I have also noticed that I have developed the habit of responding to "How are you doing?" with "Keeping busy!" - so... I now think I serve myself better by making a plan for a more useful thought to repeat to myself and to others.
How well you describe the cycle of doubt! Let's see...the cycle of trust would then run somewhat like this: Goals and Action Plan >>> Small Starting Steps >>> Self-Reinforcement (recognition and gratitude for action) >>> New Steps Towards Success Appear allowing for >>> Enthusiastic Intention >>> which focuses on Taking On-Target Action Steps which really = Self-motivated action >>> Sense of Accomplishment which in turn = more reason to trust myself in the future.
Hey! I like that! Perhaps I will post it in my office! - and start saying "Getting the important things done.' When asked how I am doing.
Thanks for being my sounding board as I think these things through! May you create some effortless success in your day!
Margaret Ida

Hi MI - thank you and I love the new cycle you created - that's for me! I think a banner along my office walls, with said banner ending right where it begins, much like ES. As Stevers has reposted this thread, I will continue on THAT one with my progress.

Have an awesome and insightful day - Colleen

Margaret Ida

I have started saying 'I am living my dream' when people ask me how I am, or what I've been up to- it seems to work really well for me. For me, I need to stop focusing (obsessing) on the irrelevant- & place my energies on creating and receiving inspiration, guidance, good omens... opening up to the understanding that I truly can live any way I choose to, and sometimes the only difference between dreaming and living is perspective.

Brenda

Dear Stevers and all,

My invitation to all of you is to ask yourself this question: "What am I willing to give up to be successful (achieve my goals, get what I want)?", post your answer, commit to following through with it, and then report back to us with what you are noticing as you move forward with that commitment.

This is really a tough one. My mornings are great. Nothing to give up, but when I get home from work I want to relax and think about nothing, just laugh. I usually find a comedy and watch TV. My commitment is I will give the first 30 minutes of my time home after putting items away, etc., to coming to an ES forum to be committed to my growth and interaction with others. That may not sound like much time, but I felt I could do this. I want to be able to report back in a week that I have accomplished my commitment to each of you, and how I have grown.

Greetings All,

I hope I can join in occasionally too. I've been eavesdropping on these threads sporadically since I bought the ES course, and I imagine there are many more closet ES students dropping in to read the comments of how "everyone else" seems to be progressing.

What am I willing to give up to achieve success.... Hmmmmm. Well, I have been trying to give up negativity. That is, not just my own negative thoughts, but other people's negative attitudes. It's draining. And I'm trying to let other people have their opinions and not feel I have to argue or cajole or jolly them out of a funk. I try to remind myself that we're human beings... and sometimes we just have to BE. And sometimes, we just have to let others be.

Also, I'm trying to give up using the word "fine" as in, "How are you?" "Fine." It's a little thing, but an unexpected answer does give the day a fresh and immediate zing. So, instead I would rather say I'm feeling "Marvelous" or "Sparkling" or "Groovy" (remember that?) or "Happy" or "Lovely" and sometimes just "Barely adequate." But "Fine" is so boring that it is no longer so fine.

I have a question for everyone out there. You seem to be a very committed bunch, more so than me, and I appreciate that. I am wondering how many times you have gone through the ES course. I only completed a one-time through, and I can't seem to motivate myself to go through it again. And I'm feeling like I should be going back over this because I know there are things I've missed. And I'm thinking that the people who really succeed in achieving their breakthrough goals are going over the material several times.

But not me. Instead I keep buying more courses. I've bought Subliminal Videos, a Meditation Program (CDs with Binaural beats), The Winning Sage Contesting Course, The Silva Method, and Sonic Access are just some of my purchases. I've stuck with the Subliminal Videos and the Meditation Program, but with everything else, I race through the course and start thinking I must buy something else. The Holy Grail is still out there. My life must change NOW! Maybe a self-hypnosis course. Maybe Joe Vitale's Law of Attraction course. Why am I doing this?

By the way, on the first Wednesday of each month, Jack Canfield does a live and free telephone conference. It's over an hour long. Just go to AskJackCanfield.com and sign up. (I'm not sure that's the exact link, but it's easy enough to find him since I did it accidentally.) His telephone conference is like the ES course with a private mentor. And it's a great feeling to have Jack's phone number on my cell phone. That makes him "one of my five friends" that I spend the most time with.

Um, by the way, French Claire, I always wondered, did Jack Canfield ever contact you?

Cheers everyone; thanks for reading this, and have as much fun as you can!

Hello Mea,
It is great that you have come out of the closet. I know that the best way to make progress is to share and open up. Congratulations. I hope that you will join in whenever you feel it is right for you.

I have a mass of visitors staying this month (17 people) so I can't divert much genuine attention to the forum. Nonetheless everything is perfect, if I can only get out of the way and see it. So I acknowledge that I have been making strides on other levels, such as linking with family, really hearing them.

Right now I just want to acknowledge your question about Jack Canfield contacting me. Well, no he hasn't directly. But I have not been ignored. When I have a moment I will add to my own Canfield thread and let you see just what has been going on.

So, Mea, like you I no longer want to answer with trite, unconscious responses, such as "fine". Right now, I am sparkling and hoping you have an effervescent day, with lots of miracles. Enjoy unearthing all those nuggets of wisdom, little acts of kindness and attention, and discovering one more way of getting in alignment with perfection and joy.

Adieu,
French Claire

Oops, Mea, it's me, French Claire, back again.

I have gone through ES with a fine tooth comb once. Then I got heavily involved with aspects of it that seemed most important to me..... such as releasing (a long diversion as you may notice from my postings).

Next I started to notice the bits of the Law of Attraction that were not addressed sufficiently for my needs by ES. So another diversion to Gay Hendricks The Big Leap and discovering Upper Limiting and self-sabotage stuff. A dabble with Noah St John, and now I am taking Joe Vitale's Expect Miracles apart line by line. I cannot imagine why this book has given me so much insight, but he has filled in so many blanks. One of them has been for me to give myself permission to "be negative" at times. In my sould I knew it is counterproductive to suppress the negative, and Joe gave me the necessary insights to move through and beyond negativity.

All this to say that I now feel really drawn to another session with ES. However I am buzzed to see how much progress I have made. I tried to follow Stevers suggestion and work with the ES paraliminals..... to no avail, I got nothing at all out of it. Then I realised why. I don't need to work through the asking and believing PLs anymore. Why? Because that is work well and truly done. When I moved on to the Receiving PL, and part III of ES, then everything became relevant and exciting again.

So I guess you need to ask (and trust yourself with the answer you get) whether buying all these courses is a mere act of consumerism, or a means of distraction from ES, or do they serve a deeper purpose. For myself I can unequivocally say that ES is 'the good news story', all the focus on positive aspects, but most of us have bashes and dramas and disappointments that (again, for me) could not be dealt with satisfactorily with ES.

Once again, I wish you a sparkling day and the most exciting, rewarding adventures with the ES process.
Adieu,
French Claire

Thank you, French Claire, for your kind words. And didn't you just have a big old grin on your face when you wrote the word sparkling?

Has anyone gone through the course more than once? Is it worth repeating?