Originally posted 2011-03-30 10:22:32.
Paris in the spring… nice thought.
Stay with me for a moment!
I am part of a study group. We go to seminars together to learn integrity so we can live an unpredictably great life.
This past Sunday, when the sun was shining and it was the first nice-weather weekend of the year, five out of the seven members of the group forgot to call our conference line on Sunday. Paris in the spring…
The seminar leader suggested we declare a breakdown. “What’s declaring a breakdown?” Asked one of the members innocently.
I volunteered to write a little essay (that is like a one-page scientific paper, lol) and sent it out to everyone. And then the s-h-i-t hit the fan.
No one remembered what ‘declaring a breakdown’ was, although we’d all done the seminar where that was taught.
OK, so what does that have to do with Paris in the spring? I am getting to it.
Why am I writing about this incident?
- One reason: breakdown is a lot like stuck. And you know that I unstuck people…
- Second reason: because most people have such a busy mind, you need a shoe horn to fit in any new thought. It’s permanent ‘Paris in the spring’ there.
Let me start with the second: I bet you are more interested in that. After all you are spending your hard earned money, or maybe even money you haven’t earned yet, on learning new things so you can earn more, love more, enjoy more.
And then it all was for naught. You didn’t learn anything.
The Story of the Fired Client
I fired a coaching client a week ago. It was a little hasty, I must admit, but she came to the calls, and she didn’t remember what we’d spoken before, she didn’t remember to do the practices I had given her… she was wasting her time and money.
The moment our coaching calls were over, she went back to her life, feeling better than before the calls, but not remembering any of it.
Or in the case of one of the exercises, she wrote down what she heard. And she remembered that.
That’s not bad, is it? Hey: I am with you on that. Except that what she heard is not what was said.
Huh? Exactly my sentiments. She heard not what was said but what she thought she heard.
So how can that happen? Was she dumb or something? Read on…
The experiment
There is a famous experiment done in front of a class of hundreds: the presenter asks the class: “close your eyes”. then he writes something on the chalk-board.
Then he asks for a volunteer and ask them to read what’s on the board.
The volunteer reads: “Paris in the spring.”
“Anything else?”
The volunteer says “Paris in the spring xx”.
“Anything else?”
“And there is also a border around it” tries the volunteer, puzzled.
“Come to the board, please.” The volunteer goes, sheepishly. “OK, now touch every word as you read it out.” says the presenter.
“Paris in the the spring…” the volunteer gasps.
Hundreds of people in the audience, none of them saw the second “the”. They all saw ‘Paris in the spring.’ Many heard the famous Sinatra tune in their head as well.
When you already know…
- When you already know what’s there, your mind will not bother to actually read it.
- When you already know what’s being said, your mind will not bother to actually listen.
And that is just one way of the few ways your mind prevents you from learning anything.
So how do you change that? How do you become someone who can learn?
You can do two things:
1. catch the thought: ‘I already know that.’ Remember ‘Paris in the spring’ and disable it
2. empty your mind energetically so you can get what’s being taught.
3. do both
My work is to empty your mind and teach you how to use your empty mind, this new powerful learning tool, to accomplish what has been eluding you: success.
Imagine what you could do with a quiet mind:
- you could meditate like a Tibetan monk.
- You could rid yourself of stress.
- You could pick and choose what to concentrate on, and this way
- manifest your heart’s desire, fast and effortlessly.
- You could be invincible to attacks, criticism, and judgmental people, including yourself.
- You could be present to your spouse or your children and suddenly hear them. Hear that they love you.
- You could learn. even the hard stuff, fast, so you can use it, and stop spending more and more money on something you should already know. Or be stuck in a menial job, because you don’t know enough.
It’s like medicine: when your body is clean and pure, you only need a little bit of it to cure you, when your mind is clear, you can learn what you need from just one course, instead of many, too many, if you ask me.
And then you could, maybe, visit, in reality, Paris in the spring.
