Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Ch-ch-changes

TTL found this cool talk about lifestyle experiments.
Listening to intuition and making small changes can sometimes turn out to mean a lot.




Probably many people will listen to him and say "hell, that's all very well for you, but I have responsibilities here, I can't just up and flit to New Zealand and Iceland". But I think that for one thing, one of those "experiments" does not have to look extreme to other people. The change can be anything.  And for another thing, the willingness to change very often opens up a lot of possibilities one had no idea were there.

The change in mind always comes first.

17 comments:

Alex said...

c.f.
"The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin"
"Reggie"
"Reggie Perrin"

Classic examples of redefining yourself.

You can also check out "The Good Life" aka "Good Neighbors".

Alex said...

EO, I guess you and I have both upped sticks and restarted our lives. But we were both young and free at the time. It just seems less possible when dragging a family in tow, and all the peer pressure.

Oh, other classic example "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" by Roger Waters.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I watched a couple of episodes of "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin" (perhaps you had mentioned it), but I got disaffected, exactly because here it was all set up to be about a man making a brave change in his life, and then... he just didn't.

Bronislaus Janulis / Framewright said...

Some side notes, from a curmudge. Life has , for me, given me many opportunities for extreme change; with no need to seek them out; they've found me. The accomplishment?
I'm still here, I endure, and truck on, though battered. Seems, ... a youthful ambition, extreme lifestyle change, as most of the "old" folks I know have been slapped in the face with enough life altering events, to have no need to seek them.

TC [Girl] said...

Thanks TTL & Eo for featuring this inspiring presentation. I've often thought it would be very cool to be able to walk around taking shots of everything I come in contact w/on a daily basis and...being able to share this, online, combining it w/my dream to travel. It is, in fact, a dream that I have, often. Someday, I plan to make it a reality so...I'd better get w/the planning of my "experiment" so...when the opportunity presents itself, I'll be able to JUMP on it! :-D

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Exactly. One may not be able to go on the spaceship one has always dreamed of, right away, but one can always change *something*.

Anna said...

Thanks TC girl and Eolake for sharing this !

The comments are also interesting, thanks for all.

Actually, life gives big slaps to some, that give them great opportunities for extreme change, changes that they actually didn't chose. They learn a lot from it.

And for some others, there are no big slaps. That makes them stay where they are, and sometimes be less brave / open / happy than the ones who got the slaps.

So well, it is great to plan some changes if life does not impose them on you !

I think every change is useful if accompanied by conscious though about what it teaches you.

/ For me, the big challenge now would be to stop making changes for a while. Maybe I should make that plan and jump into it :) /

TC [Girl] said...

Anna said...
"Thanks TC girl..."

Actually, it was TTL. And I agree w/you: MANY of us get "slapped around" and don't seem to have had many choices in the matter, always; AND...they have also been GREAT learning lessons. Like you, I'd prefer to make a conscious choice of what changes I want to make and not just have it be because I got slapped into it. :-/

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

Now don't do anything rash! :-)

--
I agree it's the conscious thought which is the active ingredient, not what you do.

Anonymous said...

TTL is exactly the kind of dolt who listens to guys like this. He probably has Tony Robbins tapes too.

ttl said...

He probably has Tony Robbins tapes too.

Haha. Actually, I do!

Although I don't listen to them, nor think very much of Tony in general. But I do have his tapes -- at least for the time being (I am in the process of getting rid of most of my crap).

I also have Brian Tracy tapes. I consider him only slightly more intelligent than Tony.

Alex said...

I have some Tony Robinson books and tapes. His version of Odysseus is great fun, and as for his books on Maid Marion.

I'd still like to read his "Archaeology is Rubbish".

Anna said...

Ok, so thanks TTL :)

I did meet Tony Robbins' books last year, and it helped me to address some issues I was facing then. I think he has a grounded theory, and does give tools to the people who want to work on themselves and have affinity to the kind of guidance he is proposing. Of course it is a question of affinity, and also of discipline: you can read many good advices, if you don't use them, they are not gonna work... :)

In this video, I like the 4 steps: plan, look at the infrastructure, make the rules, and jump. Ok, it's nothing new, but good to hear it. I tend to do only the plan and the rule part. :)

ttl said...

Anna, the reason I pointed this talk to Eo was the backstory: how the guy decided to snap one photo/day for a year, and how then one of those photos (man and chihuahua sleeping) triggered a change in his life.

I thought this might interest Eo, because he too is camera-happy. You know ... weird that way. ;-)

The after-the-fact rationalization that the speaker then engages in -- the four-step process -- I find to be mostly meaningless analysis. It adds nothing relevant to the talk.

So, what is relevant in the one photo/day snapping then? It opens a feedback loop between the self and the higher self. The effect is the same you get from keeping a written diary. Or talking to a voice recorder daily. It is a way to incorporate new ideas and observations into your awareness.

Do I do that myself? No. I only have a Nikon D80 and it is too bulky for that. But I intend to when I get a smaller camera.

CAPTCHA: bless

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

I have found that when it comes to personal development and such, precise understanding and application is less important than simply being stimulated to new thoughts and perceptions. Being willing to see and learn is key.

(Captcha: "Turdess". Hah!)

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

BTW, the only thing I know about Robbins is the long article Dave Barry wrote about being at one of his shows, which was hysterical.

Anna said...

> Being willing to see and learn is key.

I cannot agree more.

> I have found that when it comes to personal development and such, precise understanding and application is less important than simply being stimulated to new thoughts and perceptions.

From the receiver part, yes. But from the "mentor"'s part, he has to have a model about the human aspects he is talking about that helps you to have a new point of view. A good model stems I think from 1/ a good and precise understanding of human mind + 2/ a good ability to reduce the complexity, take some important aspects and organise them so that the idea can be understood quite easily. If the model is good, it can give new perspectives. If it does not come from deep understanding of the human mind, it is just blabla.