1. Where I have been!
2. Where I have virtually
been!
3. What I have done!
4. What I have learned!
5.
What others have done and learned!
As I am writing to
you this month I am reflecting on all of the things that I
have experienced since my last newsletter. To begin with I
have been traveling like so many of you may have been doing
during the summer months. I spent five days in the Santa
Barbara area with my Mastermind group. (The photo above
showcases Santa Barbara's beautiful coast line.) I spent three
days in Seattle with a group of Club Managers. I spent time
with a brother and his wife in Whistler and I am writing this
from a ferry as I return from Vancouver Island where some of
my family members arranged a stay in Tofino on the rugged West
Coast of the Island to celebrate my birthday.
In addition to the places I have visited I have also
virtually been visiting Calcutta through the e-mails that I
have been receiving from Emily Payne, the 17 year old young
woman that has been volunteering with Free the Children in
India. If you have been reading my newsletters you will know
that I had the opportunity to do a speaking engagement to
raise money for Emily's trip. Thanks again to those of you
that contributed to her journey. The following is an excerpt
from one of her e-mails.
On Thursday, I was walking
back from the internet cafe a block away from our guest house,
and there was this group of a dozen street kids standing at
the end of the street. They were looking at me so I smiled and
waved. Then the most amazing thing happened. They all just
started running towards me, sprinting. They (came) up to me
and latched onto me and just started climbing all over me.
Then we all got in this circle - in the middle of the
sidewalk/street, and starting playing this clapping game. For
those of you who know "stella stella ola", it was like that
except they would name of the months of the year. "January,
February, March ..." And then at December one kid would get
out. So we were playing this, and then four or five more of
the India participants (from Emily's group) came walking up
and a little street kid asked for a bandaid because he had a
cut on his leg. So, (my colleague) reached into his bag and
pulled out a bandaid and then all the kids starting running up
and holding up their cuts and wounds because they too needed a
bandaid. There must've been about 25 kids running everywhere.
So we got out medical gloves, and bought some water to wash
off the wounds, and more bandaids and polysporin.
And
then more kids came, from down the streets and alleyways
nearby - mothers, adults, five-year-olds carrying babies on
their hips, wanting medical help. Swollen fingers and feet and
infected cuts and gaping wounds. "Are you doctors?" people
were asking? "No, No" we were saying. But there was this huge
lineup of people needing help. So three of us put gloves on
and we treating all these wounds, and we were holding their
hands, and they were all so happy. Everyone who was passing by
stopped and stared at us. There was this crowd of about 25 or
30 people just watching us. Really funny actually. But a
really touching experience.
Over the past few months I have been leading two Happy
Healthy Wealthy games and I am finding that the lessons of the
game have been coming to life in the experiences I have had.
Here are two lessons that we talk about in the game that
have made a huge difference for me.
In the game we talk
about the effect that our conditioning and programming have on
the results we experience. In other words our beliefs have a
huge effect on whether or not we achieve our goals. I went to
my Mastermind Retreat with the expectation that I would have a
positive life changing experience as a result of attending it.
The lesson I received was that in order to have the kind of
success that I have had in the happy and healthy areas of my
first few games I need to employ the same kind of strategy in
the wealthy part of my game. The realization was that although
I had been working on a achieving a certain level of health it
wasn't possible until I changed my beliefs. When I finally
believed that it was possible, then it happened. My mastermind
group has really helped me to identify some of the beliefs
that may no longer be supporting me and has challenged me to
change my thinking.
The second lesson that keeps coming up is the power that
the environments that I put myself into have on my success. In
the game we talk about seven environments that we can delegate
the success of our goals to. One obvious one is the power of
changing a physical environment. I have been in physically
beautiful places on earth this month. I have been away from my
office and my regular routine and thinking which has allowed
me to think differently.
A second environment is a relationship environment.
Although I am constantly connected to amazing people, this
past month has been extraordinary in this regard.
A
third environment is a memetic environment. This is a place
where I am introduced to new ideas and new ways of thinking.
This month has put me in contact with so many incredible
thoughts from many dynamic people.
My challenge for you
this month is to think about the beliefs that you have been
carrying around and the environments you have been employing
for your success.