Time Travel Today

Time travel is awesome! I really like all the time travel movies. I especially like the back to the future movies with Marty McFly. Recently, there have been some Hallmark time travel movies on TV that caught my eye. What is it about time travel movies that intrigue me? I really don’t know, except that their just so interesting. I think it is trying to figure out the what ifs or the ,wait, how does that work? How can you go to a time before you were born? How could you go to a time in the future after you were already dead? These are hard to answer questions. They are impossible questions. In order to stop giving time to questions like this. We need to focus on what we can control. 

And So It Begins... GIF

I have found that time travel is possible. That is correct! I am claiming time travel is possible as long as we are talking about time travel in your mind. In your mind, you can be at three places: The present , the past, or the future. It is basically right out of the story A Christmas Carole where scrooge is visited by three ghosts. the ghost of Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas’ yet to come. Every time you have a thought, it is convening the past, the present, or the future. This means you have three times or places your mind can be. 

The Past

The thoughts of the past are your memories. When you are thinking about memories, you will be trying to recreate and bring to mind the images, events, locations, and people of the past. By going to memories of events, people, or places. You can probably remember things that happened and almost replay them in your mind. You could go to places that you are familiar with in the past and remember what it looked like, what it smelled like, or even how it made you feel. You can spend time thinking about what if I would have done this? or what if I would have said that? If you are fully in the past, it will be hard to be effective in the present here and now.

The Present

You can think about and focus on what you are currently doing. Some may call this presence of mind. The phrase is used a lot in sports by broadcasters who are talking about someone who made a decision so quick. Here’s the call brought to you by none other than Bill Walton. 

In the clip, Reggie Miller had the ability to steal the ball step behind the three point line and drain the three all in an instant. He was so present, he was able to make the exact, right decision at the right time.

Another example I like is the dad Saves! This is where the baby or kid almost falls and, out of nowhere, the dad saves the day. He has great presence of mind. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnYT4uQQu0c

The more we are present, the more we can deliver in times of stress or times of difficulty. Although you might be thinking of something else, you are alert enough to make a quick decision to handle the current situation. When you are acting in the present, your mind is in the current time. 

The Future

The final place we can be is in the future. In your mind, you can think about the years to come and what is to come.  This is a valuable tool, but can also be something that distracts you from the tasks at hand. 

The future mind is a place of vision. If you look out into the future and can see things that others can’t, you have better vision. 

Understanding that each action is part of the next link and also connected to the last is understanding the chain of events.

If each action, habit, or activity would be plaid out in the mind, you stop being a creature of habit but a creature of control on a course where you are going.  Being a person who can see and think in the future is a valuable skill. While it is a valuable thinking skill, it still has to remain in balance with thinking in the past and having a present thinking mind.

What time to think

Now is the time to think! Here is some things that could help you elevate your value!

  1. keep track of thinking – how much time do you spend thinking about today, the past, or the future. Figure out if you need to stop thinking or start thinking in the past, future or present.
  2. Understand that you can not change the past, but you can use the past to live in the present and change the future. 
  3. All of your activity that you did in the past, today, and in the future will run through the filter of your current thoughts.  Make sure your mind(or soil) is ready

Back To The Future GIF

Thanks for elevating value,

Farming Without the Farm

Are you a Farmer? If so, you know how to farm with a farm. What you may not know is that all people, farmers and non farmers, need to know how to farm without the farm.

If you will look up the definition of farming, you will find a definition that says farming is the agricultural activity of producing an agriculture product. By definition, it would appear that you would not be able to farm without a farm.

I grew up on a farm but transitioned to a businessman lifestyle. In my study of business practices and principals, farming is always flowing through my mind. That is where farming without the farm exists. It exists in the mind. Just as experienced farmers work and act, so must we all think. If a person can learn to think like the farm works, you can farm without the farm.

Two simple and familiar farming practices are planting and harvesting. You may have heard this called sowing and reaping. These two things are the most important practices in farming. Both are needed to produce a crop. I work with a client who is a farmer. He said that if he could always be planting, he could be sure he would have something to harvest. If you are farming without the farm using your mind, make sure to understand the idea of planting and harvesting in your mind.

Planting:

Whatever goes into the mind is a seed. A seed will always take root. It may not be favorable for growing but it is there. It cannot go away. Whatever seeds received water and nutrients grow. It does not matter if the seed is a fruit or a poisonous plant, the seed will grow if it receives what it needs. If the ground(your mind) is open, it will receive anything that comes in and the seed(thought) will be begin to work towards its purpose(harvest).

Harvesting:

What comes out of the mind is the harvest. The thoughts that started as seed are now expressed in thoughts, choices, actions, etc. It is important to understand that one seed can produce a crop of 100 times the amount of seed that was planted. Farming is a very powerful process. The harvest, is always happening in the mind. For some, it is strategic. For others, it can be almost a default kind of process. I think everyone would agree the most beautiful farm does not happen by default. The most valuable farming operation exists because of strategic farming principals in action.

Farming In your Mind:

I believe we can all begin elevating value by using farming principals in the way that we think. If your farm(your mind) was examined, would the crops be abundant? Or, would the farm(your mind) be grown up in weeds. The farm(your mind) is always at work. You are always farming, with or without, the farm.

Carlin,

Attack of the Robots!

by Carlin Day

Robots and artificial intelligence are a part of today and I believe part of our future. If you could have a robot, what kind of a robot would you want? What would you want it to do? I have asked this question and got some interesting answers.

Things people want robots to do:

Their job
Clean
Self Destruct (someone who apparently hates robots)
Drive a car
cook food
mow the grass
from Twitter (violence) no one to my face has said violence!

Regardless of their different answers, everyone agrees on the way the robots would make decisions. People want their robot to make decisions based on what they have told it to do or, if it is a very advanced robot capable of making its own decisions, they want the robot to make the decision they would make.

Elevating Value
Compare yourself to a robot. If you were a robot, designed by a creator, what would you do? You would do what you were created to do. When you make a decision, how would the designer of the robot want you to think? The designer would want you to make decisions based on the same thinking as the designer.

The Point
People are not robots. We are not given a task and forced to do it. We have the choice and the opportunity to make our own decisions.

Today, I encourage you to ask the designer for a calling, a purpose, a worthy ideal. Day by day, try to think like the designer and do things the way the designer would want them to be done.


Here are some resources: https://elevatingvalue.com/login/bible-verses-about-the-mind/

Carlin,

Is it too cold? Use Cybernetics

by Carlin Day:

Is it too cold in your house? who is in control of the thermostat? If it is you, change the thermostat. The simple thing about a thermostat is that it will keep your house at the temperature it is set at. It will guide or govern the temperature using a principle called Cybernetics

Definition of Cybernetics:

the science of communication and control theory that is concerned especially with the comparative study of automatic control systems (such as the nervous system and brain and mechanical-electrical communication systems)

Cybernetics comes from a Greek word meaning – to steer- The word comes from a famous mathematician Norbert Weiner. Norbert Weiner used the term while working with automated missile guidance during World War II. He was working with how missile systems worked together with a network of information. A missile with guidance needs to react with factors from the outside to make changes on the inside.

How Cybernetics is Used

One of the simple uses of Cybernetics is a thermostat. One thermostat that most of us use is a heating and air thermostat. Changing the thermostat allows it to react with the current temperature and keep it at the desired temperature all on auto pilot. No matter whate changes happen at the house, the thermostat will react to its current conditions

Kid leaves front door open – dog gets out, lets outside air in

Fridge door left open – minimal affect on home temperature(adults seem to get angry – kids not so much)

112 degrees – Air conditioner runs a lot!

Elevating Value

Now that Cybernetics is the answer to changing the temperature, how do you use it to elevate value? The way cybernetics will elevate your value is buy using it in your own mind. If you can practice discipline of thinking, you can set your own temperature. The mind is your control center. It is currently working off all the temperatures that have been set from the beginning of your life until today.

Examples of current Cybernetic controls:

Your weight – if you identify as fat, you are not becoming thin and in shape

Your Finances – People who do not see themselves as a millionaire rarely become multimillionaires or billionaires

Attitude – The choice to be positive or negative.

A Better Self Image

Examples of your weight, finance/career, attitude are just the beginning. This is actually a total representation of your spiritual and physical self image. Your self image is the thermostat that controls your current “temperature”. Jim Rohn has a great quote about change. He said. “When you change, everything will change”. This idea is key to elevating value. If you will set your controls and live by them, you will be using Cybernetics instead of letting your current Cybernetics control you. If your told cold, change the thermostat.

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Definition of Cybernetics

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cybernetics

Great Piece on Cybernetics

https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/cybernetics/

Great Video on Cybernetics

Search Youtube video on Cybernetics and Self image by Bob Proctor

A Recipe for Value

by Carlin Day

This time of year, there are lots of recipes being used. All kinds of holiday foods are being cooked, exchanged, and enjoyed. The foods all have something interesting in common. Is it that they are delicious? Is it that holiday foods are unhealthy? Is it that they have a mysterious way of vanishing in the night when everyone is sleeping?(this is at least what happens at my house) While all these things are true, the commonality that I want to focus on, is the fact that they were all made with a recipe.

A recipe is the starting point. If you have a recipe, you have the plan of how to make your desired dish. The next step is acquiring all the necessary ingredients and putting them together according to the recipe. If the process is followed, you will end up with your desired result.

You may point out that a lot of great food is made without a recipe. This is true, but it is because the cook has mastered the dish and now knows the recipe by heart. Once the recipe has been mastered, the only reason you would need it again is to go back for direction if you forget something, or if you need to give the recipe to someone else because they asked for help. “This is delicious, can I have the recipe?”

The Value Recipe would look the same. If you are going to work on elevating value in 2019, you will need a way to get and give more value than you did in 2018, you will need a recipe. This would be something you write down and follow so that in 52 weeks, you will have a completed recipe. After a whole year, you will only need to reference your recipe if you need direction or forgot something. You also will need it when someone sees the improvement you have made and asks “What is different about you?” You will then need to share your recipe.

Takeaway:

In 2019 Make sure you are using a recipe to accomplish something. I use a 52 week calendar and focus on doing one or two things per week that will make 2019 better than 2018. One important thing is to finish the calendar before you complete it. You can get the calendar I use by clicking below

Thanks for visiting,

Better Self Discipline = More Success

by Carlin Day

It is almost time to end 2018.  Have you accomplished what you wanted to get done in 2018? If not, there is still some time left.  If you have to get the whole goal done. There may not be enough time to get it finished. – Do it anyway –

Start Small

One thing I have learned, is that starting small is the best step to finish a task. If you will get started and keep at it without quitting, you can accomplish a sizable task. Here is an example. If you could keep up with plan A, it will change your life if you are currently using plan B.

After one year of following plan A, you will have done 520 pushups plus the extra you did. You will have walked 208 blocks plus the extra you walked because you realized four blocks was not that far. This is an example of the cruise ship example

For the last two years, I have followed a workout schedule and it has changed my whole life. It may sound crazy, but completing a task that you set yourself and no one has forced you to do, will affect every area of your life.

Better Self Discipline = More Success

Time to start thinking of what you would like to do and trying to break it down into small steps.

Actions Steps:

  1. Begin thinking about 2019, it will be here in one month
  2. Make a Plan better than No Plan
  3. Contact me if you are thinking about a workout plan. I currently work out one day a week and am looking to form a group.

Three Reasons to Journal Daily

photo by Taylor Loewen

Three Reasons to Journal Daily
written by: Ben Haenning

Sender's profile photo

It’s Saturday morning, I’m up early, and the first thing I do when I sit down with my coffee is pull out my journal. I begin to write. Creating change is difficult, and building a routine to journal daily is tough and takes energy, but it’s worth every minute invested.

Background on my journaling habits

I wasn’t always someone who journaled. I think traditionally, it was because the fact that I never was taught the benefits, and the people around me didn’t do it either. It wasn’t until I started to research successful people and found out that they journal daily. I think I always had a negative viewpoint of journaling – it was corny, it was a waste of time, etc. The reality was that when I dedicated time to learning about journaling and its benefits, it was a no brainer to make a change.

My journaling habits today

When I started to journal a little over a year ago, I noticed a shift in my success. The more research I did, the more I realized “journaling” takes on many different forms. There are many things you can do that are considered journaling:

 

  • Writing your goals down daily
  • Planning out your day
  • Reflecting on lessons learned
  • Reflecting on wins
  • Writing about the best things that happened to you that day
  • Describing what you’re grateful for
  • Or… simply writing

The morning

My process every morning and every night is a combination of some of the above. In the morning I map out my entire day, hour-by-hour. I write my goals day everyday because I believe it’s important that your goals are always at the top of your mind. Then, I write down three things I need to do every day to make the day successful. Lastly, I reflect on what I’m grateful for.

 

It’s my firm belief that if I start the day off with the above habit, the day will be a success. My day is planned, I started it off on a positive note, and my goals are at the top of my mind. Here is my actual morning routine.

The evening

At night, the journal comes out again. I reflect on the day as a whole. Did I accomplish what I needed to? Did I have any lessons that I learned from the day? I write those down, every day. What were my wins for the day? And, lastly, I again reflect on what I’m grateful for.

 

I believe that if I finish my day out this way, I go to sleep with a good “close” on the day. I reflect on things that make me happy, and I put time and effort into what made the day good and bad.

 

Journaling takes time, but it has taken me to a level that I wasn’t at before. It takes dedication, but once you build the habit, it’s easy. It’s important to my planning mechanisms, and there are three specific reasons why I personally do it every day.

Three reasons to journal daily

After studying successful people – people in positions of power, leadership, authority, and success – I noticed that there were three reasons (sure, there are more, but these are the most important to me) on why they journal daily.

1. Goals stay top of mind

This is the most important. Grant Cardone suggests that everyone should write their goals down every morning. He even created a 10X daily planner that gives you the opportunity to do so. Why? If you start your day with writing your goals down, every decision you make will be tied to those goals. Every decision will drive towards the success of those goals.

 

If you start your day writing your goals down, you can plan your day around tactics and actions to achieve those goals. This was a game changer for me. When I started to understand my goals, get clarity around my goals, and plan my days around my goals, I started to see more success and goal achievement.

2. It starts the day on a positive note and gets your mind right

This is important – you need to start your day out positive. I have found that the more I journal in the morning, the more I accomplish what I need to, and the more I reflect on my life as a whole.

 

I stated earlier that I write down what I’m grateful for every morning. The folks at Best Self  have this down to a science. In their journal, they have built it in to every days schedule. I suggest you check it out.

 

Reflecting on what makes me grateful, and starting the day off positive helps me get my mind right and straight in the morning.

3. Reflection and accountability

Lastly, and I may argue, most important, reflection and accountability. Let me explain.

 

Every night, I give myself the opportunity to reflect on the day. What went wrong? What did I learn? More importantly, what went right? Reflection time is critically important. If you don’t spend time on yourself and reflecting on what you did, you never learn from your actions. Dedicate time to reflect.

 

Secondly, it holds myself accountable. Every morning I write down three things to make the day a win. Did I complete those? And why did I, or why did I not? This certainly ties in to reflecting, but holding myself accountable places importance on my actions and my plans. Not only do I hold myself accountable daily, but I also hold myself accountable weekly and quarterly. These checkpoints allow me to adjust if needed, and continue to progress to my overall goals.

You get out what you put in

Whether you journal now, or if you’re looking to build it into your journaling habits, my advice is to just start. Doing some journal is better than none. And doing more is better than some. I firmly believe that a lot of my success is tied to the fact that I have clear goals, tactics to achieve those goals, and journal every day to create the map for the goals. You will get out of journaling what you put in to it.

 

Cheers – be great.

Ben Haenning is a coach on goal planning, setting, and achievement. Follow the concept of The Opportunity Cost of Time he ties in how your decision making and goal clarity have an impact on overall goal achievement. Ben offers individual, group, and corporate coaching on goals, planning, living a healthy lifestyle, vision mapping, and more. Find out more at https://benhaenning.com/