Category: MasterKey Experience

To Hit the Target, You Have to Aim in the Right Direction

I’m going to presume you know your target. If you don’t know your target, spend some time thinking about what you want in life and jot that down in the most positive terms possible. Got it? Did you catch the qualifier in there? Using the positive terms. Once you find your target, always aim in the positive direction as you move toward your purpose. Want some tools to help you?

Get on the early notification list for the September Master Key Master Mind Alliance course (no obligation), and in exchange, I’ll send you tools to help you find a positive path to achieving your definite chief aim in life.

Week 30: Belated Update

Last week got away from me! Despite that, I have something small but exciting to report. Several years ago, I tried not eating after 8pm. I found all kinds of reasons to be annoyed by this process. My husband didn’t make dinner in time. This, that, or the other interfered. I mostly complied, but I found the whole process troubling and unsatisfying, and eventually, I quit paying attention to it.

Enter this year, as a Master Keys graduate. I learned a few things from the course. When I decided to redo my Plan of Action card at the course completion, one thing I did was remove things I’d put on there that I wasn’t doing (for a variety of reasons). Having things on my Plan of Action I wasn’t acting on was not sending the right message to Subby. One area of my Definite Major Purpose (DMP) is manifesting well. I felt confident enough to begin working on another area of my DMP. I added “I eat before 8PM” to my card.  Notice it is worded in a positive way. We learned in the course that Subby doesn’t understand negatives, so I spoke to Subby in the positive term of what I do.

The first couple weeks, I felt hungry after 8PM, but I kept reminding myself, “I eat before 8PM.” I did not feel anger or deprivation this time. I felt an acceptance of that plan in my head and continued with my activities. After a couple of weeks, I felt less need to remind myself of the plan. In fact, in general, I feel more satisfied.  I’m pretty awed by this effect.

Last week, after some contemplating about what the next step in this DMP manifestation should be, I chose to add “I move in the morning” to my Plan of Action card. This has made it easier to get out and get my yard work done in the morning.

Simple.

Positive.

Steps.

I like this.

Week 29: Integration

I’m continuing to integrate the Master Keys into my life. I’m seeing the benefits of using only positive statements in my DMP. I’ve redone my Plan of Action card to incorporate a few positive statements. I’m devoting sits to trying to find more ways to voice my plans in a positive way.

“I eat before 8PM.” is one that is working very well. Integrating that was challenging for the first two weeks. I felt hungry every night. That little gnaw in the gut that says, “Feed me.” I repeated to myself, “I eat before 8PM.” I drank some water — ice water is my favorite beverage. Actually, on the POA, it’s “Water and Ningxia Red are my favorite beverages.” Both are authorized after 8PM, but I usually go for water.

I chose this phrase because it specifically addresses a concern I have about being deprived of food. I don’t know where that concern came from, but it was a real problem for me several years ago. I’ve been working with Subby on it even before I started the Master Keys, and this phrase really resonates. I’m not deprived. I just eat before 8PM. I’ve been doing it for almost a month, and I hardly ever think about it anymore.

What will I incorporate next? I’m not sure yet. But I love to use my Service card to help me stop procrastinating on decluttering efforts around the house. See you next week. Integration continues.

Week 28 – In the Flow

This week has been “In the Flow” of a wild river with a mild set of Rapids (I need to remind myself how fun that is).

On the bright side, my husband is feeling better. On the dark side, my husband is feeling better. That means he wants to “get stuff done.”  After six months of thinking about how much he hasn’t been able to get done, he is ready to work.

This is a good thing, but my schedule becomes secondary to his, and his is largely dependent upon the weather. Meaning even if he did tell me what he wanted me to help with, it will change.

The Law of Least Effort is my friend. We spent four hours at the ranch clearing fallen trees (at least three) to reach our long-neglected (about ten years) tractor. This photo was taken at the point where we’d cleared the tree that had fallen on the back of the motor home a couple of years ago. flow         On Saturday, we spent about four hours and cleared all the trees and debris from the tractor. We worked together very well, and it was a rewarding day.

On Tuesday, we had a window withou rain forecast, so we went out to remove the shredder from the back and use come-alongs to pull it into the trailer. We expected that would take a couple hours. Six hours later, we were headed to town. Everything went smoothly. We didn’t gauge how much time it would take.

The tractor is now resting in the shop, waiting for my husband to get it running again.

tractor

Week 27: Thought

Thought. We all do it, but how many of us do so consciously? How often? It’s been on my mind this week. Pardon the pun. As I read the Master Keys lessons, the topic has come up repeatedly this week. Yesterday’s gem: “Thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore endowed with creative power.” Today’s gem: “In order to possess vitality thought must be impregnated with love.” And still more, “If we wish to express abundance in our lives, we can afford to think abundance only, and as words are only thoughts taking form, we must be especially careful to use nothing but constructive and harmonious language, which when finally crystalized into objective forms, will prove to our advantage.”

Every where we turn in the Master Keys, we are exhorted to think only positive thoughts. Think with precision about what we want most. What we think about grows. (But if you’re in the US and you’re forgotten about your taxes, you better think about them quickly, because even if you’ve forgotten them, the IRS hasn’t). But normally, what we forget, atrophies, so think about what you want and forget what you don’t.

This is where someone usually chimes in with a comment about something negative they have to deal with, or a remark that you can’t just think something into existence. The negative thing you have to deal with is an opportunity to substitute a positive thought pattern that presents it in a more positive light. And, if you’re not willing to work to make what you think about a reality, then it’s just a daydream. The purpose of thinking about what we want in precise, specific detail, is to make us alert to opportunities to change our lives in a way that will bring our dream in our heads closer to reality. By being aware of what we want, we’ll be more attuned to the opportunities when they appear.

But first, we need to get our minds in order. We need to practice thinking. We need to seek opportunities. They are there. Rarely will what we want just fall into our laps; however, by thinking deeply and regularly, it will be far more effortless than if we aren’t doing the thinking. Quiet your mind, and think.

Week 26: Law Review

Week 26 is, in most ways, proceeding well. Continuation prescribed re-reading the masker keys, which I had planned to do but not this soon. I adjusted. In my personal life, I’m finding a Law Review has been dictated.

I’m glad we ended the course with the Law of Least Effort. That means it has been fresh in my mind. I have needed it. I needed it the final week of the course, and I implemented it with less expertise than would have been optimal (I’m being kind here). I needed it again this week, and I’ve been better. Still sub-optimal, but a significant improvement over two weeks ago.

Indulge me while I keep the law review foremost in my mind:

Law of Least Effort: Acceptance

  1. I practice Acceptance. Today I accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I know that this moment is as it should be, because the universe is as it should be. I do not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete. I accept things as they are in this moment, not as I wish they were.

 

Law of Least Effort: Responsibility

2. Having accepted things as they are, I take Responsibility for my situation and for all those events I see as problems. I know that taking responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for my situation (and this includes myself_). I also know that every problem is an opportunity in disguise, and this alertness to opportunities allows me to take this moment and transform it into a greater benefit.

Law of Least Effort: Defenselessness

3. Today my awareness remains established in Defenselessness. I relinquish the need to defend my point of view. I feel no need to convince or persuade others to accept my point of view. I remain open to all points of view and am not rigidly attached to any one of them.

Applying the Law of Least Effort means living each day with:

  1. Acceptance
  2. Responsibility
  3. Defenselessness

 

There’s a lot in there, isn’t there? I’ve had to repeat Acceptance, Responsibility, and Defenselessness over and over and over again over these past few weeks. And that isn’t the only law I’ve needed.

I’ve restarted the Mental Diet so many times, I’ve lost count. The negativity has attacked with a vengeance, and I don’t always laugh at the world as well as I would like to. Even though “this too shall pass” definitely applies, I’ve found myself wishing to apply the Law of Relaxation — having my calm, relaxed state of mind help me access infinite intelligence, because I’ve certainly needed it, coming up short time and again. The Law of Practice is getting a work out. Everywhere I turn, I find an opportunity to practice — these laws, and I perform amazingly because of practice. Well, I need more practice, because amazing, well, I’m getting a lot of practice, and I will perform amazingly because of practice.

I know what I’m going through now in my life isn’t even the dress rehearsal for the real thing yet, so practice I will, because I need to get this right. I’m struggling to apply the Laws of Dual Thought and Substitution — attaching any feeling I desire to any thought (my choice) and instantly replacing a negative thought with a positive one. I’m getting better and better at the Law of Growth — what I think about grows and what I forget atrophies. Without exception.

I’m still not thinking the thoughts I want manifested, and that requires more practice, because the Law of Subconscious is at work, and it’s manifesting (just not exactly what I have planned for it to manifest). Plenty of Sit fodder, that’s for sure. I think I’ve been pretty good with the Law of Forgiveness. How’s your Law Review going?

Week 25 – Embarking on Self-Directedness

First post after Commencement, practicing self-directedness. As I’m sure you know, Commencement means beginning, even though many traditionally think of it as an end. That’s our built-in negative bias shining through. I’m beginning my first week as an independent, self-directed person. I’ve worked all my life to get to this point, and, in reality, I’ve been here for many years. My parents raised me to be self-directed, so, technically, this is nothing new. On the other hand, decades of life chipped away at how effective that self-directedness was.

We had a few weeks without a webinar during the course to help us practice working on our own. I feel confident going forward. Still, as the webinar blinked off at the conclusion of of our Commencement Master Mind session, I felt a brief sense of loss. I texted with my Mastermind partner throughout the session, and we’re embracing our future as we step out on our own and employ what we’ve learned.

I signed up for Continuation, which retains access to the course material and a few other things. Mostly, I’m evaluating what this self-directedness will look like. I’m reading Think and Grow Rich, so those chapters may replace my weekly Master Key lesson. On the other hand, I think a periodic review of those weekly lessons will add fresh perspective as my perspective has changed with more complete learning.

There are a few more months of scroll reading to finish The Greatest Salesman in the World. I’m nearly done with my Definite Major Purpose revision. What worked at the beginning of the course needed more dates, more customization, and more emotion. Very little of my original DMP remains; however, I had to put a segment back in, because it was so important. My new guide convinced me about why my “Recognition for Creative Expression” personal pivotal need wasn’t valid. As you may recall, I’d been wondering about that. “Autonomy” is my new PPN. It feels right.

Of course, I will continue adding my service each week. I’m taking a closer look at my Plan of Action card. It needs updating. There’s a lot of good crammed in there, but I want to ensure it still aligns with my DMP. I rewrote my Blueprint Builder without the “wills” and added the Laws of the Mind to the back — just to keep them handy.

This was never addressed, but I’m absolutely certain Davene and Mark J are not hauling around fifteen years of gratitude cards, so I’m periodically “retiring” some to another pile. I have four sizable piles of gratitude and success cards. It seems practical to retire some every now and then to keep those piles manageable. I plan to add a few cards to cover the “carry over” phrases from The Greatest Salesman in the World. I’m going to devise a method of keeping the thirteen virtues front and center, and I suspect that involves index cards as well.

So, like a kid happy to be in her first home after moving out on her own, I’m arranging and rearranging the furniture. Oh, and I bought the P90 video series. I decided with one replaced knee and another knee awaiting replacement and a ton of excess weight, I wasn’t ready for P90X, but I’m looking forward to checking this series out. Thanks Mark J. What an influence you have been.

Week 24 – Tuning Our Minds

We’ve been tuning our minds for the last twenty-four odd weeks, and it’s no surprise that Haanel’s final lesson talks a little more about this. So does another related resource, the book by Napoleon Hill titled, Think and Grow Rich. Many of you probably have that book in your library, unread. In the introduction to Haanel’s lesson 24, Haanel reminds us whether our focus is religious, scientific, or philosophical, these teachings are valid. Are you an alchemist? Here’s the secret: “Gold in the mind may be transmuted into gold in the heart and gold in the hand.”

The paragraphs of greatest interest to me this week are 13 and 14, so I’ll highlight them here:

13. If you desire to help someone, to destroy some form of lack, limitation or error, the correct method is not to think of the person whom you wish to help; the intention to help them is entirely sufficient, as this puts you in mental touch with the person. Then drive out of your own mind any belief of the lack, limitation, disease, danger, difficulty or whatever the trouble might be. As soon as you’ve succeeded in doing this the result will have been accomplished, and the person will be free.

14. But remember that thought is creative and consequently every time you allow your thought to rest on any inharmonious condition, you must realize that such conditions are apparent only, they have no reality, that spirit is the only reality and it can never be less than perfect.

This is where tuning our minds comes into play. You may be familiar with a radio. You tune it to a certain frequency, and a radio station you’ve been told you will find at that frequency will play. It could be a music station or a news station, or a sporting event, but when you tune to that frequency on your receiver, you get that information. Our mind works the same way. We can receive all the stations. We can choose to tune our minds to the positive, rewarding, abundant stations, or we can choose the negative, brow-beating, poverty-filled stations. Once we choose what to tune to, that will be what we see and experience in our lives.

On page 37 of Think and Grow Rich, we are reminded “the human mind is constantly attracting vibrations which harmonize with that which DOMINATES the human mind. Any thought, idea, plan, or purpose which one holds in one’s mind attracts, from the vibrations of the ether, a host of its relatives, adds these “relatives” to its own force, and grows until it becomes the dominating, MOTIVATING MASTER of the individual in whose mind it has been housed.”

Which do you want to tune into and receive?tuning our mindtuning our mind The destruction or the growth frequency? We can choose which frequency we tune our minds to receive. Choose wisely.

Week 23 – The Ides of March

Twenty-nine years ago today, the Ides of March opened the worst period of my life (to date–I learned to never challenge worse) — my then-husband suffered a serious head injury and was never the same (I’ve since realized that my eyes were opened to who he really was), my dog died, and my youngest sister was diagnosed with an eventually fatal brain tumor. The Ides ushered in the head injury. My parents were visiting us, for the first and only time in my adult life. They had to leave before the true extent of my husband’s head injury became apparent. My sister was still a happy seven-year old, unaware of the tumor that would begin her final journey just a few months later.

Eventually, I divorced the husband, I still have the ashes of the dog, and my sister, after guiding the rest of the family spiritually, met our Maker six months before her tenth birthday. Just before her first surgery, she reassured our grandmother, “Don’t worry Grandma. Jesus is with me.” I learned a lot about what is currently called “adulting” during those few terrible years of my life, but there were many good memories during those tough years, too.  She made a huge difference for my father, too. My father has lost two children in his life, one shortly after I was born, and Debbie. They played an incredible synergistic role in his life. He shared his faith journey in this YouTube video for his church, and it’s worth a listen.

Life is a series of ups and downs, and this month’s scroll assures us these ups and downs are normal, even essential. The scroll’s lyrical tone is comforting, but the message is clear. While the ups and downs are normal, how we deal with them is critical.

If I bring rain and gloom and darkness and pessimism to my customers then they react with rain and gloom and darkness and pessimism and they purchase naught. If I bring joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter to my customers they will react with joy and enthusiasm and laughter and my weather produces a harvest of sales and a granary of gold for me.

Equally important, we also understand and recognize the moods of the people around us. We make allowances for their anger and irritation, because they do not know the secret of controlling their minds. We understand that while today they may be grouchy, tomorrow, they may be pleasant and a joy to be with. In the same vein, today, they may not be interested in our tremendous bargain, but tomorrow, they may pay us twice what a useless trinket is worth. Because of that, we do not form our impressions upon just one meeting, but keep an open mind.

What have your Ides of March been? How have you recovered?

Week 22A – Mental Housecleaning

I’m looking back to Week 5’s Master Key and doing some mental housecleaning tonight. I am also reminded that knowledge does not apply itself, so a few DMP areas not manifesting as I would like will need some attention. I’m going to include excerpted highlighted areas from my Week 5 Master Key reading.

From the introduction: But thought works no magic transformations; it obeys natural laws; it sets in motion natural forces; it releases natural energies; it manifests in your conduct and actions, and these in turn react upon your friends and acquaintances, and eventually upon the whole of your environment. You can originate thought, and, since thoughts are creative, you can create for yourself the things you desire.

Paragraph 2. The subconscious can and will solve any problem for us if we know how to direct it.

Paragraph 5. We can consciously use all the desirable characteristics with which we have been provided and we can repress and refuse to allow the undesirable ones to manifest.

Paragraph 8. This, then is the way we are consistently creating and recreating ourselves; we are today the result of our past thinking, and we shall be what we are thinking today, the Law of Attraction is bringing to us, not the things we should like, or the things we wish for, or the things someone else has, but it brings us “our own,” the things which we have created by our thought processes, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Paragraph 12. The thing to do is to have a mental housecleaning, and to have this housecleaning every day, and keep the house clean. Mental, moral, and physical cleanliness are absolutely indispensable if we are to make progress of any kind.

Paragraph 16. To gain this estate, three processes are necessary: You must earnestly desire it. You must assert your claim. You must take possession.

Paragraph 29. Now, go to your room, take the same seat, the same position as heretofore, and mentally select a place which has pleasant associations. Make a complete mental picture of it, see the buildings, the grounds, the trees, friends, associations, everything complete. At first, you will find yourself thinking of everything under the sun, except the ideal upon which you desire to concentrate. But do not let that discourage you. Persistence will win, but persistence requires that you practice these exercises every day without fail.

Pay close attention to paragraph 8. It makes it very clear we are an ongoing evolution. If our past thinking was not to our liking, we can change that by changing our thinking effective immediately. Persistence, continued, will eventually result in our new thinking becoming a reality in our lives. Do your mental housekeeping.