Chapter 9

Deserts

For the next two chapters we will now be spending four days in each section. This will give you time to master the key skill to this training method: Emotional Calibrations. These techniques are meant to be practiced and mastered even beyond the 30 day Quest.

In classical mythology, this moment is referred to as the “Crossing of the First Threshold”. Now you’re going to go from making an intellectual commitment to an emotional one. This might seem at times difficult because it’s the process of learning a skill that takes you from being “Unconsciously” Incompetent to “Consciously” Incompetent. This can be a very challenging time, especially for a culture where the people are used to having every thing fast and super-sized! 

This is the crossing of the poppy field where you risk the danger of falling back asleep. It’s the long space flight to Alderaan where you begin to develop your attunement to the Force. You will be tested, time and again, in your own personal “Road of Trials” (another mythological reference.) Success in this moment depends on your ability to calibrate your emotions.

In the first three chapters we covered the intellectual material - knowing what you want, what stands in your way, and the resources you have to help you. The next three chapters are the emotional phase - how to identify, calibrate, and master them. The last three chapters will deal with physical manifestation of your Quest and enjoying results.

It is especially important to be honest with yourself when you show up to the workout. If, for example, you feel Shame about something be honest about it:

Shame: “I’m ashamed of my body because I think it reflects a flaw in my character.”

After you identify all of an emotion, convert it “one emotion up the scale”. Look at it through the eyes of the new emotion:

Guilt: “I feel guilty that my shame keeps me from working out as much as I should.”

Then keep moving up the scale as far as you will (or today’s workbook) will allow you to go. If you run out of physical exercises for the day, continue the emotional calibrations in the “Additional Entries” section of each day.

Let’s go all the way up the scale to see how to continue converting this “Shameful” thought all the way up through the scale:

Apathy: “I don’t care what people think of me because they don’t know me.”

Grief: “I grieve over feeling younger and more energetic. The person I see in the mirror is not the same person I was.”

Fear: “I’m afraid of finding out that maybe I really do have a weak character.”

Desire: “I want to look and feel good! This confirms that my character is strong!”

Anger: “I’m angry that getting physical results can’t be easier!”

Pride: “I’m proud that I’m here today and that I feel better than the day before.”

Courage: “Going to the gym in spite of my insecurities makes me a brave person.”

Trust: “I trust that every day I dedicate to doing this makes a difference.”

Willingness/Determination: “I am willing to finish today’s exercises.”

Acceptance/Forgiveness: “I accept my body as it is - a flawed creation. Yet I accept my spirit for what it is - a beautiful masterpiece.”

Clarity: “I’m clear that every moment, every choice I make about my body, is either an expression of Fear or Love. I’m clear about choosing differently in this moment.”

Love: “To love someone else is to love myself. There is no separation between the gift and the giver. Therefore I love myself, my body, exactly as it is right now. Working out is a choice of love.”

Joy: “Joy is experienced in every moment by recalling truly joyful moments. I carry joy into the gym, my work, my home, in my heart.”

Peace: “Peace is knowing the deepest part of me is already perfect. Working out merely helps me put my ego aside in times of stress.”

Enlightenment. (Words will not adequately convey Enlightenment’s meaning.)

We'll be practicing this skill for the next four days and even beyond. This is where you make the emotional commitment to change your life, bringing in the results of your Quest. Here is where you consciously flip Control Dramas into Coaching Competencies and begin to make this habit unconscious. Here is where you Tune In to yourself and recognize what you're feeling when you enter the workout. You have to ask yourself Powerful Questions to identify the emotions and more powerful questions to rise up the Emotional Calibration scale. When you do this you immediately make Powerful Observations because the emotions you're identifying are inherently powerful. Finally, doing these calibrations alone is a Powerful Request. When you work with Willingness and Determination the observations you make should be actions you will be required to take, thus making the requests even more powerful. Here is where you learn how to reverse influences of Intimidation, Interrogation, Aloofness, and "Poor Me-ism". When you master these in your own head you can share the communication skills with others. This will bring good things into your life...

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DAY 10
DAY 10 (Mike's Journal)
DAY 11
DAY 11 (Mike's Journal)
DAY 12
DAY 12 (Mike's Journal)
DAY 13
DAY 13 (Mike's Journal)

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