“The Greatest Investment”

MAY 2009

Drew Rozell, Ph.D. partners with a select number of dynamic individuals, groups, and progressive companies who wish to harness the power the Law of Attraction to create better outcomes.

“It ain’t luck!”

During a hike, my dog Tasha watches over the pond as the humans take a snack break. (She got fed too)

 

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MAY 2009

 

 

 

 

Welcome, my friend,

As the video shows, the world is green again, vibrating with new life.

I must say, I feel the same is true within myself lately. A good feeling. 

I hope this finds you living closer to your edge, stretching yourself, and learning more about who you really are.

‘Cuz there’s always something to learn and there’s always a little better version of you waiting to be explored.

Also, please note I update the blog lots more that I send out newsletters these days. I like to think that I offer something positive, fresh, and occasionally insightful in my posts.

The good news is that you can have my missives delivered right to your inbox. 

Just use the form on the TOP RIGHT of this page or click here.

Or just keep doin’ what yer doin’ now…

Thanks for your support and thanks for reading this.

Really.

P.S. If you like this, please share it with someone. Or leave a comment.

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THE GREATEST INVESTMENT

I used to blame cell phones.

After all, they provide such an easy target – ubiquitous, loud, and rather foreign to me (I do not own one). But the other day I saw things more clearly. I saw cell phones for what they are –    bits of plastic and electronics – tools as innocuous as a hammer or a broom. My real issue is with the humans holding the devices.

Due to their prevalence and their function as communication devices, cell phones hold the power to reveal and amplify their owners’ level of self-awareness. Self-awareness is the most valuable skill a human possesses (or lacks). The greater your mastery of this skill, the higher your quality of life.

Before making my case for the power of self-awareness, I’ll describe the scenario that inspired these thoughts.

I was sitting in a café drinking a coffee and reading a magazine. A dozen other folks were scattered about the place. At the table next to me, a woman typed on her laptop, papers strewn around her. She drew my attention when she suddenly started speaking loudly (at least twice as loud as conversation level) into her phone. Her voice reached the farthest corners of the room.

My old script about cell phones kicked in and the dark thoughts rolled in.

Doesn’t she know how loud she is? Why couldn’t she have made her call in a private place? Doesn’t she realize that her behavior is annoying the people around her?

Sitting eight feet away from her, I turned to face her, trying to lock eyes and give her The Stare of Death in hopes that 1) her face would begin to melt or 2) she would lower her voice. Within seconds, I recognized the Stare was no match for the power of her phone. She stood now, her eyes skyward, her hand slicing through the air to punctuate the seriousness of her situation. Her world was her own, one in which my unbroken glance did not exist.

I exhaled, took a spoonful of responsibility for my reaction to the situation, called off the death stare, and took it all in.

Her name was Susan. She needed an appraisal on her house. Of course, this was a “delicate matter,” she explained. She was in the midst of a divorce and needed to know how much her home was currently worth as the legalities moved forward. She emphasized how she needed this conversation to be “on the QT” while shouting her full name, address, how much she paid for her house, and directions to her home to the strangers around her.

As Susan flitted from call to call, my initial feelings of irritation morphed into curiosity and fascination. One drama bled into the next. She had recently had a painful root canal. Her house still needed $150,000 worth of repairs. She argued with a company over the validity of $400 bill she received.

My point in describing this scene is not to criticize Susan. I believe that she’s doing the best that she can and it’s my responsibility to remember that her behavior holds no bearing on my life. (I can choose to get angry. I can choose not to be. I can choose to get up and leave.) Rather, in my observation of her, the coach in me could not help but envision how a slight redirection of her awareness could have massive positive effects on all areas of her life.

She struck me as someone who took responsibility for her life in the conventional sense. After all, she was taking action by making all these phone calls and seeking solutions to her problems. While we are conditioned to applaud busyness and taking action, action alone only addresses only symptoms, not the root causes of problems. For Susan to become more self-aware would require her to take responsibility for how she felt in any given moment. Right now, she wasn’t very happy. But accustomed to going through her life this way, I doubt she really knew that.

I’d been in Susan’s presence for 15 minutes and I had already I’d heard about her issues regarding health, wealth, and relationships. I suspect that she has spent a significant chunk of her life with her phone glued to her ear, expending her energy by throwing verbal buckets on one fire after another, oblivious to the fact that she was the one holding the torch in her hand.

In other words, if Susan were willing to shine the light of awareness on how she felt (and why she felt that way) as she moved through her day and made those calls, I believe that over time her life would be filled with a greater sense of ease. With some practice, she’d be a lot happier and leave the all drama of her life behind.

Taking responsibility for your level of self-awareness – the thoughts and feelings you choose in any given moment – is the most powerful skill you can develop to better the quality of your life. Not a powerful skill. The most powerful skill. When you manage how you think and feel, you take charge of what you allow into your life. The more you consciously project positive energy out to the world, the more you will experience that same positive energy in your life. Simple.

But while the process is simple, it’s not always easy. In fact, it’s much easier to remain comfortably numb. To continue to ignore your feelings. To rationalize. To tell stories. To make excuses. To complain. To blame.

Like any investment, self-awareness is not free. It requires you to commit yourself to seeing your life through a new lens, where you are creator of all your experiences. And yes, you can expect that things will get uncomfortable as you stop looking outside yourself and begin owning your life and your feelings.

But if you’re up for the challenge, this investment in yourself dwarfs the returns offered from any stock market, real estate venture, or university degree. In terms of what mastering this skill can return in terms of health, wealth, and happiness, there is no equal.

Self-awareness pays off every day and it pays off for life. You can bank on it.

 

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So I’ve been meditating lately.

Really practicing each morning and night for a couple of weeks now.

I’ve always wanted to meditate. I mean it sounds all enlightened and such. 

I’ve bought products like Holosync and other CDs. 

They are all fine enough, but in the end I let them gather dust.

But I’ve been doing a different kind of meditation lately. More active. More visual. Less “clear your mind” of all thoughts.

And I really like it. 

I am drawn to do it more that feeling like I have one more task to complete.

I think it put me on a new path. Cleaner. Easier. Better.

Inspired to share, I created a 15 minute fulfillment meditation audio. A little gift for you, if you’re interested.

Yes, it’s free. 

But you need to make the space in your life to relax and listen if you want the true experience.

Download the MP3 file here.

Chillax and receive, man! 🙂

 

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A bit more on the power of investing in yourself…

 

 

Investing in yourself means hiring a professional. 

By paying out this money, you are really buying a better version of yourself.

I cannot convince you of the power of learning about yourself. The light and the dark. It’s not all pretty, but it is all good.

But I wonder…

What’s the last thing that you learned about yourself that really just stopped you in your tracks?

That made you feel uncomfortable? That made you feel relief? That broke a code that kept part of you locked away for decades?

In my book, that’s LIVING my friend. 

If you’re not doing that — at least every now and again — well, what is it that you’re doing?

Invest in the only thing you really are in charge of… and the only that will affect every single part of your life.

YOU.

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I’m still on Facebook. But as B.B. sang, the thrill is gone. Too much of nothing much. But FB is excellent for sharing photos and just often enough, you can reconnect with someone from your past.  

click here if you’d like to be my new BFF.

Just send me a short note that you get the newsletter…

I promise not to “Hide” you. (fingers crossed)

 

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* A Book, A Movie, and an Album*

 

 

A Book: Just finished Richard Russo’s Bridge of Sighs. Russo has become one of my favorite writers. Each night I’d look forward to lying in bed and getting to know his superbly fleshed-out characters. Awesome read, to be enjoyed slowly.

A Movie: DVR’ed (and don’t we love the DVR machine?) Forgetting Sarah Marshall as I had heard good things. Made me laugh out loud throughout and we’ve watched it twice. A smart comedy.

An Album: Ah, the album. Remember them? I do. I used to buy them all the time. Albums. Cassettes (ugh!). And CDs. I’d sit down with headphones, thumb through the lyric sheet, stare at the cover art, and actively listen. Those days are gone for me, mostly. A casualty of the digital age. But a few times a year, a band I give a damn about will put out a new album and I savor the experience.

This happened recently as one of my very favorite bands, The Tragically Hip released their new work, We Are The Same. Makes me sing.

 

 

A shot of my tower/deck where I shot the video. A cool place to visit.

 

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ISSN: #1530-3101 Library Of Congress, Washington D.C., USA © Copyright 2009 by Drew Rozell, Ph.D. – All Rights Reserved