"It's never the end of the world. It's already tomorrow in Australia."

Charles M. Schultz

I love this quote! Isn't it true that we can never completely see all the things that are on their way to us -- the Abundance around the corner?

We struggle and struggle, getting frustrated and sometimes downright discouraged

because we can't see for sure what is coming.

People with high Abundance Intelligence, or AQ, balance the need for certainty with a belief that they are manifesting things they can't see, or sometimes even imagine, today.

And in the meantime, they keep on doing what they can do.

Do you believe in what's coming to you?

Posted by Kim George at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Recently, I read this wonderful excerpt from "A Raft Around the Corner and Other Stories to Keep You Going" by David Pippenger.

The story is called "The Life Raft We Cannot See" and it resonated with me when I think about the Illusion of Certainity. See for yourself:

The Life Raft We Cannot See
By David Pippenger

This is a true story...

Albeit, the short version.

A man found himself floating down the rapids in a river at the bottom of a canyon, miles from anywhere, in the middle of a wilderness area with his ankle broken in half.

Having been trained on how to get out of the rapids, he determined that he would get to the shore, and he did.

Not having been trained in what to do with a broken ankle in the bottom of a canyon...he determined that he would walk out of the canyon and up the steep, rocky path just as he had come down.

He did not.

You see, his ankle had the deciding vote, and it had decided that walking up a rocky slope was not in its best interest.

So, in an effort to appease the broken ankle, the man tried to walk using a crutch made from a tree.

Which was a brilliant idea...

If he had been walking on a smooth sidewalk going downhill for a short distance.

But he wasn’t.

Continue reading "The Unseen" »

Posted by Kim George at 05:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering.  Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar."

Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk and poet

Change is inevitable, yet we cling to the "safety" of our knowing, our satin lined coffin of familiarity.  Even if it's difficult, unfulfilling, or stifling, we cling. 

We are in love with our clinging.

The Illusion of Certainty goes to the heart of this dilemma.  It's really a matter of trust -- not only trusting that good things come our way, but that we are capable of attracting and thriving with the good things.

In my book, Coaching Into Greatness, I say that life doesn't come with a money back guarantee.  Instead, we are to navigate with curiosity, openness, and vulnerability.  A tall order indeed!  This quotation was sent to me by one of my group coaching participants.  She is wildy, valiantly exploring the growing edge of her life, and letting go of the Illusion of Certainty bit by bit.

What guarantee are you still waiting for?

Posted by Kim George at 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New to AQ - Abundance Intelligence?  Here's a quick synopsis for you:

Abundance Intelligence is a form of intelligence that is made up of aptitudes, conscious patterns and beliefs that enable us to do what we CAN do consistently and authentically.

Your AQ is measured by identifying your Abundance Quotient - the prevalence of Abundance Aptitudes in your life.  Your SQ - Scarcity Quotient - is measured by the prevalence of the Illusions in your life.  Illusions are sources of scarcity thinking.

For every Illusion there is an equal and opposing Abundance Aptitude:

Self-Worth:  you are complete, you have more than enouch exactly as you are; conscious patterns: capacity, greatfulness, catalyst

Empathy:  compassionate internal awareness -- the degree to which an individual consciously directs his or her awareness inward; conscious patterns: internal drivers, discernment, effectiveness

Self-Expression:  the ability to consistently give voice to who you are; conscious patterns: receiving, simplicity, flow

Actualization:  consistent and authentic action; conscious patterns: stepping back, curiosity, perseverance

Significance:  knowing who you are and living into that greatness every day, shifting from external expectation to internal realization; conscious patterns: engagement, decisiveness, inquisitiveness

Surrender:  the willingness to let go, allowing life to unfold through us so that we can remember who we are; conscious patterns: personal responsibility, intention, vulnerability

Inquiry: the ability to question your answers consistently; conscious patterns:  willingness, strategic thinking, adventuristic

Posted by Kim George at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New to the Illusions of Scarcity?  Here's your handy, dandy quick reference guide.

An Illusion is a layer of conditioning that provides evidence we are living in scarcity.  Each of the 7 Illusions is made up of conditioned patterns and beliefs.  All of the Illusions keep us from doing what we CAN do.

The Illusion of Not Enough: where the belief that you can't trust who you are results in feeling incomplete; conditioned patterns: more, scriptwriting, contingency

The Illusion of Comparisons:  consistently comparing ourselves to the external world to validate our belief of who we are; conditioned patterns: external drivers, personalization, busyness

The Illusion of Struggle:  the cycle of resistance, striving, and complexity that keeps people from doing what they can do; conditioned patterns: resistance, striving, complexity

The Illusion of Time:  focusing on what you don't have instead of what you do have; conditioned patterns:  rushing, attachment, distractibility

The Illusion of Hope:  waiting for other people or events to solve our uneasiness of who we are; conditioned patterns:  expectation, powerlessness, assumption

The Illusion of Control: when a person's happiness depends on re-arranging the world to fit their idea of how things should be; conditioned patterns:  care-taking, role-playing, self-defense

The Illusion of Certainty:  when the need to know an outcome keeps you from acting, making authentic decisions, and doing what you CAN do; conditioned patterns: complacency, tactical thinking, perfectionism

Posted by Kim George at 09:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All this week, I'm blogging about ways that goals can be feeders of illusion and keep us from actually doing what we CAN do.  I've seen the Illusion of Certainty show up in my goals and in many of my clients goals frequently. 

Certainty is a funny thing.  It's an illusion most of the time, because there are very few things in life we can actually be certain of.  (Yup, I know, death and taxes.)  If we strip away our conditioned patterns, we can also be certain of one other unchanging reality: who we are -- our greatness. 

Certainty impacts our goals when our need to know the outcome of something keeps us from doing what we CAN do.  Take Josie, for example.  Her goal was to start her own floral shop, but she kept procrastinating and adding to her to do list--never actually taking any of the steps to make her floral business a reality.  She couldn't sleep at night, her mind reeling with fears about the risks involved. The Illusion of Certainty is at play here.  Josie loved the familiarity of her boring, unfulfilling job.  She loved the "security" of a weekly paycheck. 

And yet, slowly, surely, that satin lined coffin of Certainty was suffocating her.

Josie couldn't get past the need to know absolutely, to have proof, that her floral business would succeed.  And nobody could give that to her.  As a result, her goal slowly died on the vine.

Take a look at your own goals.  Are you comfortable?  Have you furnished a satin lined coffin?

Posted by Kim George at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have to move from the illusion of certainty to the certainty of illusion.

Sam Keen, author

As usual, Sam Keen is right on the money with his observations.  I had the privilege to hear Sam speak at this year's Omega Institute conference and chat with him afterwards.  If you haven't read his books, you're missing out!  My personal favorite is Learning to Fly.

I just finished writing this chapter for my upcoming book Coaching Into Greatness: 4 Steps to Success In Business and Life, and we had another terrific r&d call on measuring the Illusion of Certainty last week.

What certainties are you certain of?  Have you questioned your answers lately?

Posted by Kim George at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this past week's class, we delved more deeply into measuring the patterns that make up the Illusion of Time.  This whole measurement process has been a bit squishy, to say the least!

How do you measure intangible qualities like abundance and scarcity?  It's easy to quantify the number of products sold, or pounds lost, or revenues generated.  But measuring Attachment and Convenient Distraction?  Not so easy.

In fact, nearing completion of my book and entering the next phase of this Living Into Greatness work, I found myself getting overwhelmed by the opportunities coming to me and the sheer BIGNESS of this work, AQ, that is unfolding.

Frankly, the Illusion of Certainty and Not Enough have been kicking my ass. 

Who am I to think I can create this thing called Abundance Intelligence?  I don't have the time, I don't have the background, I don't have the experience . . .

On and on it went.  For about a day and a half.

Then I remembered the words from my own book. 

I CAN do what I can do.

I already have everything I need.

Being who I am is perfectly enough.

And I took a deep breath. 

This stuff works.  How funny (and how perfect) that I have to be reminded by my own book . . . 

     That it's great.  And that it will be all that it can be.

      As long as I am being who I am.

Posted by Kim George at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time;  what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better."

Sydney J. Harris

How true this quotation is!  How many times do we long for something to be different, but lack the energy or inspiration to make it happen?  To find out why we're stuck, we have to go deeper. 

Most people live on the surface of their lives, playing just small enough of a game to avoid what's keeping them from doing what they can do.  I call these people Surface Dwellers.  They're seemingly content to go through life, loving routine, seeking comfort in familiar people, places, and things.

And yet, if they were to begin to go below the surface of their symptoms and frustrations, they'd discover what has really been driving them.

Conditioning Patterns which are made up of Conditioned Beliefs.

This is the work that we are exploring with Living Into Greatness.  It is the process of going deeper to discover what keeps you stuck.

Posted by Kim George at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"While we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us."

Audre Lorde

I love this quote.  It speaks so eloquently to the expectations so many of us have.  We expect there will come a day when we aren't scared anymore, when things will just line up and straighten out and our days of jockeying with life will be over.  When we will have paid our dues and earned the right to sit back and relax -- no more disappointment, pain, or sadness.  What a beautiful image that is, but . . .

What a crock!

There is never a point in time when fear truly and completely goes away.  Do you think that successful people don't have anymore fear?  No.  They've just found a way for their courage to be bigger than their fear.  And they've kept on.  Living into their greatness.  Doing the thing they can do.  Because they can.

The illusion of certainty suffocates our hopes and dreams.  It dangles the belief that at some point, we will know it all and the guess work will be taken out of life.  There is a point at which that happens.  But it's not living.  It's called death.  Too many people sleepwalk under the Illusion of Certainty, and a little piece of them dies each day.

Posted by Kim George at 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)