How to get UNSTUCK

The ONE word that will guarantee you a BIG life

*Special note - You can also listen to this week’s reflection on YouTube or Spotify. Please enjoy it, and if you do, share it with others who could benefit!

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I’d like to talk to you today about the curse of adaptability, why it’s keeping you stuck, and the one word that will set you free.

You see, we humans can become comfortable in many different environments and situations.

This is typically viewed as a gift, and it definitely can be. However, there’s a problem when we easily get used to things.

The problem with getting used to…
is that we often get used, too.

We get complacent with conditions that don’t serve our best interests: We make things work when they really don’t work for us and we conform to the norm when, in truth, we’re not meant to fit in at all.

We tend to get set in our comfortable ways when WE NEED DISCOMFORT to propel us into our most joyful and fulfilling lives.

Without discomfort, we would never evolve.

We wouldn’t build, try new things, maximize performance, create anything new, quit an underwhelming job, or travel…why deal with the line at airport security when you can sit on the couch and watch TV instead?

Ask yourself this:

Why not go out on a limb…isn’t that where all the fruit is?

Let’s take my in-laws as an example, for I recently spent a week with them in their home on Long Island.

They are loving, kind, knowledgeable, and well-intentioned, but their living situation would be unbearable to an outsider.

Their home is filled with love and STUFF.

SO…MUCH…STUFF.

There was an inescapable feeling of claustrophobia born from decades of hoarding and collecting; it always seemed like the one thing I needed was located underneath a tower of precariously balanced knickknacks, odds, and ends.

And the oddities didn’t end there…

Processed foods spilled out from overstuffed and unorganized cupboards. Drawers, cabinets, and closets would explode when opened, making it a frustrating-albeit-laughable experience trying to re-close them.

The house creaked from the ceilings and floors, screamed from the heating units, and banged from the 100-plus-year-old pipes.

Paint was cracking and the ceiling was flapping in many of the rooms, although not so much in the bathroom. Perhaps the mold up there was divinely holding it all in place.

Sounds pretty rough, right?

But here’s the kicker.

While it bothered my wife and me terribly, it didn’t seem to phase my in-laws in the slightest.

The inhabitants had become creatures of habit.

They’d assume their daily living room positions and get lost in the darkness of shades drawn and the incessant blare of television…unaware that the walls of their man-made prison were closing in around them.

Which begs the question, “How could anyone live like that?”

And it boils down to that one powerful and transformative word…

PERSPECTIVE.

Think of the old ‘frogs in a pot’ analogy:
If you place a frog into a boiling pot it will do whatever it can to jump out. However, if you place the frog in lukewarm water and slowly raise the temperature…it will slip into the blackness of oblivion without a fight.

Here’s a new take on it:

Set in the murkiest and muddiest of bogs,
A family of frogs built their home in some logs.
Alas, their logs were sinking at an infinitesimal rate,
But safe inside, the frogs were unaware of their fate.
They never left their home or the comfort inside.
So they NEVER left at all…and those poor frogs all died.

Complacency is a killer, literally.

Change your perspective, change your life…and potentially save it too.

Or as Wayne Dyer said, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

It’s really that simple.

To ensure that your perspectives stay fresh:

First, you must practice awareness.

Awareness is the key ingredient to living with an open heart and fresh eyes.

Only with awareness, can you see the forest and not just the trees…

Only with awareness, can you see life as a grand tapestry without getting lost in the threads.

Awareness helps us to realize when we are ignoring the warning signs, or when we’re ‘putting bandaids on bullet wounds’.

We do this ALL the time!

We get used to aches and pains by ignoring them or masking them with medication.

We put up with unfulfilling work and overloaded schedules by saying, “Everyone else lives like this. Why should I be any different?”

We drown out our intuition and ignore the deepest beggings of our soul by bathing in distractions.

We ignore addictions because they help us ‘get by’ and ‘get through’ a life that we don’t even like.

We complain about so many things, even the weather, when we can change locations and move if we truly desire to.

We blame others for our problems.

And we get so used to living a life out of balance and alignment, that it actually becomes our status quo and “normal” way of living.

According to Henry David Thoreau, “It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”

We pretend we know what’s happening when all we really see is the truth that our little egos want us to believe to keep us playing life very, very small.

Consider this retelling of a classic parable:

A group of blind men went into town square,
They heard that a merchant brought an elephant there.

They were joyful and excited, to say the very least,
For none of them had ever encountered such a beast.

The first man touched its trunk and thought it was fake,
“Isn’t this an elephant? It feels like a snake!”

The second grabbed the tusk and recoiled with fear,
“Elephants are sharp and dangerous. This feels like a spear!”

The third placed his hand on the elephant’s side,
“This beast is like a solid wall, you others have lied!”

The fourth felt an ear and proclaimed with ease,
“It feels like a large fan, flapping gently in the breeze.”

The fifth grabbed a leg and although he couldn’t see,
He stated, with conviction, “This animal is shaped like a tree.”

The last man touched the tail and, laughing, said, “You dope!
An elephant is thin and flexible, just like a rope!”

The blind men bickered on over who was correct,
Then the village elder spoke up, after taking time to reflect.

“My dear friends, you each have it partially right.
But no one has the full picture, and you lack more than sight.

The elephant is magnificent, with many different parts,
Each serves its own purpose…this is nature’s work of art.

To truly understand things, you mustn’t be so selective.
Try to broaden your horizons and consider a different perspective.”

These men were actually blind, but…

How many people go through life with the gift of sight,
yet barely see anything at all?

The antidote to this curse of ignorance, or ignore-ance, is awareness. And the key to practicing awareness, or mindfulness, is meditation. A daily meditation practice is essential for living a life rich with presence and awareness.

If you’re ready to learn more about meditation, check out “The Art of Time Mastery”. It’s a 10-day email course full of specific ways to gain back time and awareness in your life (and it’s currently free).

Second, to maintain fresh perspectives, you must learn to trust your intuition.

Intuition is that feeling in the center of your body: your gut, heart, and solar plexus. It is from here that we receive divine guidance and gain clarity in our lives.

Intuition is NOT in your head.

Remember how I referred to my in-laws as knowledgeable?

They are.

My mother-in-law worked as a professional for decades and my father-in-law is a retired college professor and landscape architect.

However, knowledge has almost nothing to do with intelligence.

True intelligence is based, not on knowledge, but rather intuition…which is honed by perspective.

The easiest way to hone and trust your intuition is to get out of your head and into your body.

We’ve already discussed awareness, which is achieved through the practice of meditation. With your newfound awareness, you will begin to realize when you are making decisions based on habit and knee-jerk reactions without listening to what your gut is telling you. Because…

Answers don’t come from forcing. They arise out of silence and stillness.

You also want to ensure that you are frequently moving your body as well as incorporating travel into your life.

When it comes to moving your body, remember this:

Change your state, change your fate.

Moving your body through exercise, walking, or playing with your kids, pets, etc. will immediately take your attention out of your head and into your body. Intuition will sharpen as you’re thinking less and moving more.

The other aforementioned ingredient for honing your intuitive instincts is to travel.

Traveling is one of the best ways to develop and learn to trust your intuition.

It immediately gets you out of your comfort zone, and this is imperative for gaining new perspectives.

You MUST see how others live their lives to decide how you choose to live yours.

Get a different view.
Go outside.
Travel and explore.
Then return with fresh eyes.

It always cracks me up when someone says that their town, city, country, or even religion is the “best” when they’ve never lived or traveled anywhere else and blindly accepted the religion they were assigned at birth by their family.

It seems obvious, but common sense is anything but…
You must change your view to get a new one.

This is YOUR life.

You get to choose - and change - your perspectives at ANY time!

When you begin to tap into, and trust, your beautiful intuition, life begins to unfold in magical ways. You move into a place of alignment with your life’s purpose and enter a state of ease and flow.

According to Mark Twain, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

If you haven’t yet experienced that second most important day, do you honestly think it will simply come to you while sitting in the same office, during your same commute, or while you’re watching the same TV shows day in and day out?

I truly believe in divine intervention and fate, however, you must take some inspired action on your own, based on intuitive guidance.

It’s IN-spired because that’s where it comes from… IN-side.

The universe can show you the door, but you must open it.

We all get caught up in narrow perspectives and limiting beliefs at times. That’s why learning about your intuition and how to tap into it is a huge component of the signature coaching program I run with my incredible wife, Alisa. It’s called “The Transformation.” Check it out and feel free to reach out with any questions.

Finally, to get unstuck in life you must surround yourself with the right people.

Start hanging out with positive people who are willing to challenge and change their perspectives.

You are the average of the people you spend the most time with, so you’ve gotta ask who those people are for you.

Are they staunch curmudgeons, stuck in their ways…or are they generally joyful beings constantly searching for silver linings and open to shifting their perspectives?

Just recently, I was at the outdoor market buying fresh bread, produce, and seafood for the week ahead. It was a SCORCHER of a day and I was profusely sweating as I stood in line, drinking a cold “pipa” (aka coconut water).

A friend called out, “Hey Mike! How’s it going?” To which I half-jokingly replied, “Just trying to stop sweating.”

He replied, “Isn’t it funny what we complain about? I have a friend back in the States digging out of five fresh inches of snow in negative five degrees!”

We both smiled and I was immediately shaken back into a state of appreciation as my negativity melted away.

Life is transitory…always changing and flowing. When it becomes stagnant, like still water on the side of a stream, it becomes dangerous…even lethal.

That’s what happens when we become narrow-minded, set in our ways, and lose perspective.

So get UNSTUCK by keeping your perspectives fresh!

In this flowing life, I hope these words will help keep you flowing WITH life - and not against it - as you continuously challenge and change your perspectives.

As Alan Watts said, "The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."

This isn’t the rehearsal, friends. This is the big show. 

Now get out there, join the dance, and, of course…

Enjoy the journey.

-Mike

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Are you at a CROSSROADS in life?

If you are ready to get unstuck, broaden your perspectives, and live a more rich and fulfilling life than ever before, click here to learn about “The Transformation”, the signature coaching program I run with my badass wife Alisa. Let’s see if it’s a great fit to work together!

Just want to dip your toe in? Check this out: ArtOfTimeMastery.com

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Enjoy the journey!
Mike