PUSHING THE LIMITS

Archana Law urges working people to commit to achieving career success

According to Lord Buddha’s dharma, “all that we are is the result of all that we have thought.” And American psychologist William James once narrated a conversation he had with an old lady who told him that the Earth rested on the back of a huge turtle.

“But my dear lady, what holds up the turtle?” he asked politely.

“Ah, that’s easy,” she replied, answering: “He is standing on the back of another turtle!”

Upon probing who holds up the second turtle and realising that she was being led into a logical trap, the woman declared: “It’s turtles-turtles-turtles all the way!”

Don’t be too quick to laugh – the human mind works on fundamentally similar principles and individuals have a unique view of the world!

In the movie The Edge, the characters played by Sir Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin are lost in the Arctic and in a hopeless situation. When Baldwin collapses, Hopkins talks him out of his despair saying: “Did you know you can make fire out of ice? You can, you know…” The symbolism suggests that fire (desire) can shake you out of your ice (stupor) and propel you into action if you want it to.

People say that they want to succeed in life but few are willing to push themselves to achieve their goals. This is why some succeed while others fail. We all begin with the best of intentions when racing towards the goals we’ve set for ourselves but many of us fall back at the first hurdle – we don’t push the limits; and we end up running out of steam when the going gets tough.

We don’t pause to catch our breath but stop and give up, or stumble half-heartedly and cross the line in second, third or fourth place at best.

But those who have the winning streak in them know that with a little extra push, a pause to recharge and a final sprint, they’ll be ahead of the pack, taking them straight past the winning post.

Are you ready to recast your idea of what is possible?

I’M POSSIBLE In the 1890s, Gottlieb Daimler drew a three-pointed star on a postcard and sent it to his family, saying: “One day, this star will shine down on my work.” He co-founded Daimler (now Mercedes-Benz)! Franklin D. Roosevelt didn’t think that because he was physically challenged, he couldn’t become President of the United States.

To work with the power of your will, you don’t need to understand all the intricacies. Few of us understand automotive mechanics but that doesn’t stop us from driving a car. Similarly, anyone can speedily and successfully master the basics and effectively have them work in his or her life if they wanted.

ENERGETIC WHOLE Modern physics now sees the universe as a vast, inseparable web of dynamic activity – alive and constantly changing with everything affecting everything else.

According to the Upanishads, “when a blade of grass is cut, the whole universe quivers.” At its most primary level, the universe seems to be a fathomless sea of energy, and we are dynamic and alive in it.

David Bohm (an Einstein protégé and one of the world’s most respected quantum physicists) and Karl Pribram (a neurophysiologist at Stanford University) have said that our thought processes are much more intimately connected with the physical world than any of us would suspect; and there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the mind can and does directly affect physical reality.

So how might we use this knowledge?

The age of the ‘knowledge worker’ is changing into one that has the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, create artistic and emotional beauty, craft satisfying narratives and transform seemingly unrelated ideas into something new.

Your mind is involved in everything you do – it’s the organ of personality, character, intelligence and every decision you make. Brain studies indicate that when your brain works properly, you’re fine; but a troubled brain that includes negative thinking and bad programming from the past will also affect you.

Change the way you think. Look within and recognise the software that runs all the time. By successfully updating your mental software, you will be able to change your beliefs, actions and life. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) scans of the brain show all the tiny neurons unhooking, moving and hooking up to other ones purely as the result of changing a thought.

Question your mental models. Give yourself the space to look at depressing scenarios again and reassess them – you may find that maybe only a fraction of it is actually interpreted correctly.

Shift the mind. Somehow we’ve been sold this idea that life is supposed to be fair; so when things appear to be the opposite, we play victim because it’s difficult for us to see a way to turn them around.

Find different perspectives and engage in course correction. After all, unleashing our full stature – our total power – is what life is all about!