Julian Kaufmann

EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO LIVE AND LOVE, FULLY

Metamorphosis through Metaphors

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It's a Dog Eat Box of Chocolates World
It’s a Dog Eat Box of Chocolates World

Forrest Gump is one of my favorite movies. In one famous scene, Forrest is sitting on a park bench waiting for a bus and he shares his life story with those who join him on the bench.  He asks a lady who joins him on the bench if she would like a chocolate and then proceeds to tell her his life’s story while offering her that  “my mama always said life is like a box of chocolates,  you never know what you are going to get.”  Later in the movie Forrest’s mom,as she is dying, conveys these words as a metaphor to her son telling him, it is up to him to make the most of what he has been given in life.

Metaphors are figures of speech according to Merriam-Webster “in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them (as in drowning in money).” Metaphors help us make sense of the world by providing a symbolic framework to explain ideas or concepts.

“If you want to change the world, you have to change the metaphor.” – Joesph Campbell

The metaphors we use to describe life can provide a tremendous amount of insight about our perceptions and perspectives.  How would you answer the following, “Life is a _______ (fill in the answer).”

When I was growing up I used to think of life as like a game.  I was very competitive and wanted to win at everything I tried.  The games I played as a kid were Monopoly and Risk, both of which are about conquering your opponents either through economic or military means.

As I entered the real world I can recall people espousing that it was a dog-eat-dog world where life was no longer a game but a real fight to the death. In this view, you needed to get your opponent quickly befoe they had an opportunity to get you.

Luckily for me, I woke up after being in the dark with a new idea of what life really was. A lightbulb went off in my head. Today I want to help us all shine brighter by using our God-given resources more effectively and efficiently.

Here is a brief video with more about metaphors and my own metamorphosis —

https://vimeo.com/182304429

Please let me know what your metaphor of your world is today and any past versions you would like to share.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Wayne Dyer

Namaste

p.s. – Please sign up and Become a Prime Mover today! It is free and you will receive valuable information and be part of the network that is helping take our power back.

 

 

Cavemen In A Connected World

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17779986 - caveman computer

“Our lives are lived in a world we have created, not the world we were created for” – Dr. Roy Sugarman

Arianna Huffington is one of the most influential women in the world today and has worked hard and become very successful. In her book Thrive, she provides a first hand account of the impact of stress and overwork in her own life. Ms. Huffington, the creator of the Huffington Post, achieved wealth and power but suffered from overwork and exhaustion leading to her own wake-up call after collapsing from stress. Huffington goes on to document the widespread disease of stress in our modern world citing that researchers at Carnegie Mellon found that from 1983 to 2009, there was between a 10 and 30 percent increase in stress levels across all demographic categories. Higher levels of stress can lead to higher instances of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully three-quarters of American health care spending goes toward treating such chronic conditions. The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital estimates that 60 to 90 percent of doctor visits are to treat stress-related conditions.

It seems modernity is harming us as the amount of stress we experience in our lives and our technology advancements are correlated. Our biology and our technology are not totally compatible. In our modern, highly efficient world we can be harmed by devices and lifestyles that were designed to make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

Today we are frantically running around being busy but not really accomplishing things. For example we spend our time checking our Facebook pages, texting, tweeting, instagram-ing, playing fantasy sports, etc. all the while not giving our brains a rest. We wake up tired, and hurried, rushing off to work often without eating breakfast or taking the time to center ourselves for the coming day. We fight rush hour traffic to sit at a desk doing work we may not enjoy in order to afford things that don’t make us happy or bring fulfillment. We then return to our homes, after perhaps working in jobs that do not fulfill us, and then after fighting traffic to come home, we then numb ourselves with alcohol, food and or television. We feel chronically tired but get no restful sleep. We repeat this cycle day after day and wonder why we are burned out.

If the external world is contributing to our stress, we certainly are not helping ourselves if we also mistreat our bodies. For if our bodies are temples consider how we sometimes treat them and often do not give them the care they need to perform optimally.

Human beings are complex organisms that need proper exercise, rest, sleep, love, etc., in order to function optimally. But just think about the food we often eat -often processed, convenient food that can be lacking nutrients. We fuel our cars with premium fuel but do not do the same for our bodies. Food is fuel for our body. Further we too often operate in our own red-zone, by not providing our bodies with the sleep, rest and physical activity to perform at our best.

Our stressed-out lives have an impact not only on us, but also on those who live, work and in general are around us. We are highly social creatures and individual/group dynamics have been studied extensively. Researchers are confirming the contagious effects of stress. Just like the old adage about one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch. The same thing holds for the contagious effects of stress rings true. One stressed out worried or anxious person can literally bring everyone around them into this state. Beyond our actual interactions and proximity to others, the contagion of emotions can be spread through our social and virtual networks as well.

So for all or our sakes, un-plug, recharge yourself and return to the cave.

Please be sure to leave some writings on the wall about what has helped you!

 

References:

Sugarman PhD, Roy (2013-01-18). Saving Your Life One Day at a Time: Seven Ways to Survive the Modern World (Kindle Location 101). Heart Space Publications. Kindle Edition.

Huffington, Arianna (2014-03-25). Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder (p. 14). Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Kramer, Adam DI, Jamie Guillory, and Jeffery Hancock. “Experimental Evidence of Massive-scale Emotional Contagion through Social Networks.” Proceedings of the National Academies of Science of the United States of America 111 (2014): 8788-790. Experimental Evidence of Massive-scale Emotional Contagion through Social Networks. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://www.pnas.org/content/111/24/8788.full>.

 

Waste Not Want Not, Conserve Energy in Your Spiritual Home

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Did you remember to turn off the lights?
Did you remember to turn off the lights?

 

The British are known for drinking tea. In her TED presentation⁠1, Leyla Acaroglu stated that in the United Kingdom, 97 percent of households have an electric tea kettle, and 65 percent of tea drinkers admit to overfilling their kettles, boiling way more water than they need for a cup of tea. These tea drinkers were wasting relatively small amount of energy for every cup of tea they drank. Based on government calculations of energy use, Acaroglu reported that one day’s worth of wasted energy use from all these kettles is enough to light the streetlights in London for a night.

Small amounts of wasted energy can really add up.

When you leave your home to go to work or run an errand – do you leave all the lights on in your house even when no one is there? Or do you leave your home’s windows open while either heating or cooling your home? What about when driving your car, do you drive with one foot pressing on the accelerator and the other one pressing on the brakes? I would guess that you don’t do these things because you don’t want to waste energy because it costs you money and because you want to conserve energy.

The most affordable way to generate energy is to not waste it in the first place.

What about your spiritual home? Could you be a better steward with the precious life energy that you have received?

What do you do to conserve, to honor and more effectively utilize your spiritual energy in your soul’s abode -the place where God ultimately expresses as our selves.

Whatever your spiritual belief, the truth is that we are energetic beings and our spiritual energy (our life) is the most precious resource available to us. We can’t afford to keep squandering this resource.

Just like we have had energy crisis related to the earth and our use of natural resources, we too are having a spiritual energy crisis involving our supernatural resources. It is critically important for our own lives and those around us that we practice and S.E.E. That is we practice – spiritual(S) energy(E) efficiency (E).

Each of us has a calling, a unique purpose and it is up to each of us to live the best life we can in order for us to flourish. The divine energy that comprises us was manifest to activate our God given potential.

In many ways we are like an acorn. Given the right environment and care, we can grow and prosper – evolving from a tiny seedling into a mighty oak that it turn provides for others in the forest.

But if we are needlessly wasting divine energy through resistance, we are squandering great gifts and ultimately we will not live up to our full capabilities.

Too often we do not activate the potential that is available to us and our gifts and our calling remain locked away inside us.

The stress and busyness of life builds up and can interfere with us living our life – of experiencing our Flow.

We choke off portions of the infinite supply from our Source and do not perform the great work of our soul’s purpose.

It is time to take the power back!

Please spread the word and have others join us the next energy revolution, becoming a Prime Mover today!

Prime Mover – Free to join!

1 “Paper or Plastic or What? Leyla Acaroglu at TED2013.” TED Blog Paper or Plastic or What Leyla Acaroglu AtTED2013 Comments. TED Conferences, LLC, 27 Feb. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://blog.ted.com/2013/02/27/paper-or-plastic-or-what-leyla-acaroglu-at-ted2013/>.

IMG_0919

Metta Not Manic Mondays

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Slide1

As we adjust to daylight savings time, this first Monday following the clock adjustment can be hard on us and those around us.  The case of the “Mondays” can be especially pronounced.

With that in mind, we can use the practice of metta mediation to lessen our potential suffering by instead cultivating awareness of ourselves and all living beings.

The following video provides additional information on the practice:

I apologize for the quality of the video and realize it is out of focus.

I decided to leave it in conveying the effect of being being bleary eyed which many of you might be.

The pictures and presentation can be downloaded by clicking below

Metta Pictures

Metta Presentation

If you would like to learn more about how to better manage your energy, please sign up for my free course – Flow 101

https://juliankaufmann.com/flow-landing-page1/

Namaste – Julian

 

 

Morning Routines to Make the Most of Your Day

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Power-UP!
Power-UP!

“We all come into this world the same: naked, scared, and ignorant. After that grand entrance, the life we end up with is simply an accumulation of all the choices we make.” – Darren Hardy

While there is much in life that happens to us that is out of our control, we can take steps to make the most of each day. Since actions speak louder than words, it is what we do and not just our attitude that ultimately matters. Our daily habits have a way of building on themselves. While at first these daily choices we make may seem trivial, over time these add up.

Darren Hardy in his book The Compound Effect describes how far off an airplane can become if at first its nose is pointed just1% off-course. For example a six-hour flight from Los Angeles to New York can result in up to a 150-mile variance in where you would land, if upon takeoff and throughout your flight you were off your course by just 1%. As a result of this piloting error instead of landing in NYC you end up in Albany, NY or Dover, Delaware. While the plane and its pilot were 99% accurate in their heading, the tiny 1% error ultimately made the difference in where they landed. Small things matter and small habits applied time over time can yield big results.

Much has been written about how to get the most out of your day by employing a morning ritual. If you scan popular blogs today it seems that everyone is talking about how to start your day off right – and this means more than just eating breakfast or not. Anyone looking to get more out of their day can find a wealth of helpful tips and techniques. I am going to share 2- resources as well as my own rituals. Please share the  daily habits that work best for you.

“How you wake up each day and your morning routine (or lack thereof) dramatically affects your levels of success in every single area of your life. Focused, productive, successful mornings generate focused, productive, successful days—which inevitably create a successful life—in the same way that unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre mornings generate unfocused, unproductive, and mediocre days, and ultimately a mediocre quality of life. By simply changing the way you wake up in the morning, you can transform any area of your life, faster than you ever thought possible.” – Hall Elrod

A great resource on the power of your morning routine is Hal Elrod’s The Miracle Morning in which he outlines a simple acronym for starting off your day right. Elrod literally died in a car wreck and then turned his life around by employing the a framework he calls S.A.V.E.R.S.[i], which is an acronym for the following:

S – Silence: This includes meditation or prayer and helps to start your day by calming your thoughts.

A – Affirmation: The power of positive thinking is employed here and attunes your thoughts for the day. Thoughts have power and can be manifest through actions.

V – Visualization: Imagine yourself accomplishing the goals. Your brain begins expecting the future to become a reality.

E – Exercise: Move your body. It doesn’t’ have to be too strenuous. A little exercise, even if it just walking, goes a long way.

R – Reading: Read positive material and learn from others.

S – Scribing: Writing down your thoughts helps you become self-aware.

Another source for tips on optimal living, regardless of the time of day, is Tim Ferriss. Tim recently recommended the following morning rituals[ii] that he tries to practice:

  • Making your bed: It has been shown that this small act sets up future accomplishments.
  • Meditation: Practicing meditation is a trait shared by many top performers.
  • Hanging: Stretching the body and loosening up.
  • Tea: Time choice for caffeine – not as strong as coffee. (I prefer the dark stuff myself)
  • 5-Minute Journal : A great journal or app that has write down 3-things you are grateful for in the morning among other things.

Over the years I too have developed my own morning ritual, which now consists of the following:

  • Waking up (naturally) and thank God :I rarely need an alarm clock these days. But when I do the first thing I do is to thank God for giving me another day. Expressing an attitude of gratitude is a great way to start the day. Realizing how blessed we are to experience another day brings wonder and appreciation.
  • Make my bed: Like Ferriss mentioned, I too like to celebrate small accomplishments and making the bed is one thing I can do everyday. This starts off a chain of achievement that builds on itself. The compound effect starts small so the sooner you start the more it grows.
  • Drinking lemon water: After sleeping your body is dehydrated and it is important to replenish your fluids. Adding lemon to water helps to alkalize your body, which is important for me since I drink a decent amount of coffee. (see next item) which can dehydrate you.
  • Bulletproof coffee:[iii] Dave Asprey offers this enhanced coffee drink in which you add MCT oil and butter. I know at first I was skeptical of it but once I tried it I was hooked. The taste is great and the added fat helps ease any stomach issue for me and may even prolong the coffee’s effects on the brain – keeping me alert without being anxious
  • Reading some spiritual text: Like Hal Elrod I find it a great way to help feed my brain by reading inspirational material. I used to watch the news in the morning but have now found that I am much more happy when I control the content I allow into my consciousness. I read daily bible verses on my iPhone as well as material offered by the Unity Church’s Daily Word amongst others.
  • 5-minute journal[iv]: I use the iPhone app for this and love it. I write down 3-things I am grateful for, 3-things that would make today great, and a daily affirmation. I like the portability of the app – so if my morning routine needs to be cut short, I can fit this practice in later in the day.
  • Meditation: Currently I meditate for 7-minutes in the morning. This works well for me now.
  • Writing: I like to write first thing in the morning. I find that my mind is more creative and the words seem to flow better for me. This is not always possible given the demands of my day job. Invariably I will often come up with new ideas or insights, which I capture in Evernote.
  • Walking my dog: Enzo, my 60-pound flat coated retriever, is my morning companion and the reason that rain or shine we walk each day for nearly 2-miles. I supremely enjoy being outdoors and watching nature come alive. Seeing the birds fly about as the sunrises connects me with the flow of life.
  • Some type of exercise: After returning from my walk, I will then do some type of exercise – be it yoga or lifting weight, maybe even some cardio work. Currently I am rehabilitating from shoulder surgery so I am not able to do much additional exercise.

When I was younger I confess to often hitting a snooze alarm and then rushing frantically out the door to go to work. Today I often wake up 2-3 hours before I need to be somewhere just to be able to start the day, as Frank Sinatra would say, my way. As I am aging I realize how precious time is and how important it is to make the most out of each day.

“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love …” – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Carpe Diem

Julian Kaufmann’s mission is to empower people to live and love more fully. Julian teaches how to more effectively accomplish your life’s work through energy efficiency.  Please visit FLOW 101 – Free Course and sign-up for Julian free course on how to get more Flow in your life.

 

[i] “How To Win The Day.” Altucher Confidential. N.p., 06 July 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

[ii] “5 Morning Rituals That Help Me Win The Day.” The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2016.

[iii] “Recipe: How To Make Bulletproof Coffee.” Bulletproof. N.p., 10 Nov. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

[iv] http://www.fiveminutejournal.com/