In the past month, the first group of Abundance Intelligence® Pioneers in the Leader Certification track have been exploring the Illusion of Time. After our discussion last night, something came to me today.

So often we talk about a person's ability.

Their strengths.

Whether they are ENOUGH.

For lots of us, seeing our shortcomings or those of others is easy to do. In fact, it's downright habitual.

But abundance is not about a person's ability. Not if we believe that we are born great. That we are ENOUGH. That we already have everything we need, choose, and want to be who we are.

When we're abundant, there's no questioning. We already ARE.

Abundance is about our AVAILABILITY.

The question is not can you do it, but will you do it? Are you open and ready and willing to be who you are?

Right here. Right now.

Today.

A person can have all the ability in the world, but if they are not available to abundance, then nothing happens. More of the same - living on the surface of life.

What are you focused on? Questioning your Ability or your Availability?

Posted by Kim George at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was talking with a client a few weeks ago and we were discussing the Illusion of Time and the need to do things right now, to seize the opportunity in the moment.

Of course, this is absolutely true. Seize the present. Do what you CAN do.

But when does doing what you CAN do actually become a source of scarcity? When does it reach the Tipping Point?

The secret is in the motivation. What is motivating you to act? Is it to be perfect, to get it right, right now because there is no room for failure?

Are you actually motivated to act because you fear this opportunity may never come again, so you have to take hold of it, reign it in, control it?

We must all be present to the opportunities in front of us, and act on the ones that inspire us, not motivate us.

Ultimately, the person with a high Abundance Intelligence® understands that

what is meant for us can never be lost.

This is not a license for laziness or second guessing.

This is a license to trust.

To have faith.

To believe in the abundance of opportunity, the abundance of all things.

When you live your life from the perspective that nothing can be lost to you as long as you are showing up as who you are - that is Courageous Abundance.

It takes guts to practice Courageous Abundance.

It's never been easy. But the time is now.

If not now, when?

Posted by Kim George at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now, and there will never be a time when it is not now."

Gerald Jampolsky

Happiness is a choice. We cannot always choose what happens to us, and when. But we can choose our response.

Are you holding your happiness hostage?

Posted by Kim George at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A recent news article from Reuters caught my attention.  Titled, "Americans work more, seem to accomplish less", the article laid out Amerca's increasing ineffectiveness and exhaustion in the workplace.

It seems we have a love affair with Doing and the addiction is technology.

The article points to research conducted for Day-Timers Inc, a maker of organizational products.  The study found that 60 percent of workers say they always or frequently feel rushed, but those who feel extremely or very productive dropped to 50 percent from 83 percent in 1994.

Email, voice mail, cell phones, instant messaging.  You know them all.

"We think we're faster, smarter, better with all this technology at our side and in the end, we still feel rushed and our feeling of productivity is down," said Maria Woytek, marketing communications manager for Day-Timers.

It makes you wonder who's leading who, like the dog chasing his tail.

Email seems to be one of the biggest External Drivers out there.  I struggle with this in my own life.  I get about 400-500 emails a day and despite spam filters, about 35% is still unsolicited email.

Instead of setting boundaries around these External Drivers, many of us try to work harder, faster, smarter.  We tell ourselves we can DO MORE.

And we end up being less.

Are you chasing the tail of "Doing More"?

Posted by Kim George at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New to Abundance Intelligence® - 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 Abundance Intelligence® 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 month I've been blogging about how goals can actually be a source of scarcity thinking.  I offer 5 steps to turning this around by creating Abundant Declarations.  I've already discussed the first 2 steps - Capacity and Internal Drivers.  Step 3 is Stepping Back.

In my book, Coaching Into Greatness, I define Stepping Back as the ability to see what is and respond accordingly, instead of reacting based on judgments and presumptions.  Stepping Back feels like insanity to most business people.  There's already too much to do and not enough time to do it and you want me stop?!

Actually, no.  Stepping Back is not stopping.  Stepping Back is more about downshifting, slowing down long enough to take a breather and look around -- to actually pay attention and observe situations.  Becoming the observer is a powerful concept. Many of you who meditate know what I'm talking about.  When we become the observer, we gain the ability to take notice, to capture the nuances of a situation as well as the big picture.  We see ourselves and how we're being in a situation.  Observing, or Stepping Back, allows us to gain perspective and respond, rather than have a knee-jerk reaction to our business in our life.

When people don't utilize this conscious pattern, they tend to hold onto goals year after year.  They have a love affair with their goals, but this isn't like Officer and a Gentleman, it's more like Fatal Attraction!  When we don't step back from time to time and gain perspective on where we are and what we're doing (or not doing) we risk becoming attached to goals that don't serve us, that no longer hold value for us, and that we're no longer inspired to implement.

Abundant Declarations are all about continually evaluating and adjusting your course.  This is related to the 4th step I'll blog about next -- that the path or the journey is more important than the destination.  You know you have a powerful Declaration when you allow life to unfold through you, and you can take the time to step back, look around, and open yourself to possibilities.  There are opportunities coming to us every day -- most of the time we're just too busy, distracted, or tired to see them.

One of my favorite quotes is from Lily Tomlin, who said, "The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat."

Are you running a race at break-neck speed?  How could you benefit from Stepping Back?

Posted by Kim George at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following is a great story from my friend Neil Tepper, author of Open Your I's: 10 Steps to Unleashing Your Inner Creative Power.  

 When I first went out on my own –- after more than fifteen years in the corporate arena, where I was accountable to someone else for my time and productivity -- I performed numerous marketing tasks in order to drum up consulting projects and other work. I made phone calls, took meetings, made more phone calls, sent out letters and resumes, attended networking events and took more meetings. I did whatever I could think of to let the world know that I was open for business. As every independent businessperson knows, attracting clients is a full-time job in itself.

It was difficult for me, at first. My phone didn’t ring off the hook like it did when I was the client. But, although I was surprised at the scant response to my efforts, I wasn’t overly concerned because I knew that my rigorous work ethic would keep me pushing and pitching. I know that about myself. I know that I am relentless and indefatigable when pursuing a goal. And my goal then was to make it as a successful entrepreneur. I believed that by keeping the pressure on myself, it would be just a matter of time until the door swung wide with clients and cash flow.

One day (I think it was a Wednesday) during this intense period, I “caught myself” lying on my sofa reading a novel. Well, I was aghast. On a weekday afternoon? On my sofa? Reading something for . . . pleasure?! I actually looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then I felt this gloom of guilt descend on me and I heard a voice deep within somewhere lecture myself about how unproductive I was being and how lazy I was. My inner dictator demanded that I needed to be making more phone calls, doing this, doing that, to make something happen. Reading for pleasure? Are you crazy? I’m going to tell your boss . . . or your mother!

Well, a funny thing did happen. Just as I was ready to surrender to that voice and flog myself into submitting to make twenty more phone calls, I heard another voice. It was calm and quiet. It said, “It’s okay, I’m exploring the poetry of my life, not the industry of my life.” And, I immediately felt an ease come over me.

This story speaks so well to the conditioned pattern of Rushing.  Evidence of the Illusion of Time, Rushing is characterized by the belief that there is a scarcity of time and opportunity, causing people to focus on what they think they should do, instead of what they CAN do.

Is the blur of life causing you to rush through the poetry of life?

Posted by Kim George at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What happened to me vs. What happened

This is a powerful distinction which was brought out during a recent call on The Illusion of Time (thank you, Droku!) 

The perception we have of time is one of the greatest sources of unhappiness.  Our perception of time is relative--it is simply our perception.  Time is a dangerous trap for many who find themselves stuck in the past - longing for the way things used to be, or regretting what happened, or caught up in the future - hoping things will miraculously change, procrastinating. 

One of the biggest causes of unhappiness is our view of things that happen in our lives.  We can choose to view an event like an illness or job loss or any change in our plans as something bad, looking for what we've done to deserve this, why we're so damn unlucky in life.

Or we can use one of the LIG principles and accept that life just is.  It is not always easy.  It doesn't always go the way we planned.  It's not a straight line from point a to b.  We can't ever have it locked up.  And then perhaps we can begin to see that events in life are what happens, not what happens to us. Accepting what is is the greatest freedom of all.  It releases us from trying to make things happen or rearrange the world.

It's not what happens to you that matters, it's what you do with what happens that matters.

Posted by Kim George at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What happened to me vs. What happened

This is a powerful distinction which was brought out during last week's call on The Illusion of Time (thank you, Droku!) 

One of the primary ways we know we're stuck in this illusion is when we continuously judge events that happen in our lives and exclude other interpretations and viewpoints.  This is illustrated by an example of how the two people can be in identical circumstances and respond to the same event very differently.  As a teenager, I was friends with a pair of twins.  When their parents divorced, Jessie took it very badly, rebelling at home and in school, getting into trouble and eventually dropping out.  Her twin sister Ann, on the other hand, completed high school and went on to graduate from college with much success. 

What made the difference here?  At the time, I never really thought about it, but now, looking back, I can remember some big differences.  Jessie saw her parents divorce as a way of punishing her - like somehow she was to blame for the breakup.  She was always unhappy, caught up in the way things used to be when the family was together.  Ann saw things differently.  She didn't blame herself for her parents divorce and she found a way to excel and use the divorce to make her stronger.

This is an interesting example of the distinction above.  Jessie saw the divorce as happening to her, whereas Ann saw the divorce as something that happened.  When we're stuck in scarcity, we tend to view changes in our lives as bad.  They may be painful and scary, so we feel victimized or wronged.

However, just like the person who loses their job and goes back to school to learn a new skill and enter a totally different profession, change can be powerful.  Change can be the best thing that ever happened to us, if we stop judging and accept things as they are.

What is going on in your life right now that you are judging?  Is it happening to you, or just happening?

Posted by Kim George at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whew!  What a week!  Back from the CoachVille conference in New Orleans and an amazing r&d call on the Illusion of Time!

On Thursday's call we discussed how the Illusion of Time robs us of doing what we can do by distracting our attention and shifting our focus to either the past or the future--neither of which hold any opportunity to live into greatness.

How many times a day do you find yourself longing for something in the past, regretting something you did, or putting something off that you can do right now hoping it will be easier, better, cheaper, tomorrow?  This is the Illusion of Time -- reminiscing about the past or striving for something in the future, all the while oblivious to the here and now.

The big distinction of the call was this:

Intellectualize vs. Internalize

When we intellectualize something to be true for us, we understand it's relevance; we probably even agree with it.  "I know I should be doing that.  I know I should tell her how I feel."  Intellectualizing goes no further than our heads.  We want it, we talk about it, maybe even plan for it, but WE DON'T DO ANYTHING.

Whereas, when we internalize something, we live what we know.  Our actions, beliefs and behaviors orient from around that internalization. We no longer see a separation from who we are and the belief that we have.  They are one in the same.

When we internalize, we actualize. That is the process of Living Into Greatness.

What are you intellectualizing right now, that until this moment, you thought you were internalizing?

Posted by Kim George at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This blog (and the new book!) are based on my approach to Greatness.  I've already shared one of the important themes - that Greatness Is.

But here's another central theme of Living Into Your Greatness -- Falling in love with where you are.

It's not just about knowing where you are and accepting it, it's about falling in love with it.  That's where profits, passion, and possibility live.  That's where we all live.

Here's one of my favorite poems of all time.  Let me know what you think.

The Opening of Eyes

by David Whyte                                          

That day I saw beneath dark clouds

the passing light over the water

and I heard the voice of the world speak out,

I knew then, as I had before

life is no passing memory of what has been

nor the remaining pages in a great book

waiting to be read.

It is the opening of eyes long closed.

It is the vision of far off things

seen for the silence they hold.

It is the heart after years

of secret conversing

speaking out loud in the clear air.

It is Moses in the desert

fallen to his knees before the lit bush.

It is the man throwing away his shoes

as if to enter heaven

and finding himself astonished,

opened at last,

fallen in love with solid ground.

Posted by Kim George at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)