Working for the Vitality Security Agency (VSA)

I have had the pleasure of being in some fascinating conversations this weekend.  For those involved, I offer a sincere thank you.  What came up as an analogy was the concept of being your own TSA baggage screener as you see at airport security checkpoints.  The luggage passing through the screener represent frames or snapshots of awareness that come into the focus of your mind's awareness.  Our job is to "shop" through all the various frames of awareness to identify those that  elicit the most vitality.

It's sort of like a Mario Brothers game where you are constantly screening the conveyor belt with different looking packages try to guess which one had the most points (points equal vitality) contained inside.  Some frames elicit lots of points(vitality), even up to 100 units.  Most frames are more mundane, less intense and have only of 1 to 5 units of vitality.  Nagging habits can whittle away at your vitality cart and have negative values ranging -10 to -50.  But wait, there are some frames of awareness that elicit fear, anxiety and anger.  Those can be really, really intense and have devastating values of -50,000 units of vitality.  The points are stored in your "shopping cart"; which, by the way, has a small leak in that requires constant filling.

I'm sure you recognize, right away that it will take long, sustained success in selecting frames of awareness that contribute towards one's feeling of fulfillment.  A practice that will require on going success to keep up with the leak and is subject to the risk of selecting a frame that  instantaneously drains your vitality cart, all together! And that's not the worst,with your vitality cart empty, doubt about your identity (i.e. who are you shopping for) and purpose (who's doing the shopping) creep into your awareness.  It is very, very easy to let the drain of vitality get to the point where doubts grow to a point where they take control over the shopping process.  Left unattended, this drain can all too quickly grow into a suffocating mountain of vitality debt, in which you are entombed in an emotional rabbit hole from which escape seems impossible.

These are the ground rules  to the "app"; Life Mission.  Life Mission serves as a sort of "Agency" within your mind that is charged with looking out for your own health and well being. Your Life's Mission is to organize and operate the Vitality Security Agency (VSA).  This organization is responsible for both the process of "shopping" for frames of awareness as well as the results; i.e. the amount of vitality in your cart.  Mental Pilates practice develops skill for successfully selecting vitality and achieving fulfillment (a sense you are playing the game well and experiencing success).  The practice begins with answering the two most important questions of the game.  First, who are you playing for?  I can hear Bob Barker now say "Come on down, you've been selected to be the next contestant on.....Life Mission!!!!  Well let's ask the new contestant; "Who are you playing for?"  [Hint: it is your core identity]


The second question you must answer is "Who is going to be doing the shopping?"  (i.e. who is driving the bus; or who is s"selecting" the frames of awareness)  Answering this question is not as straight forward as it may appear on the surface.  You see the VSA agent ca get tired and/or bored and let in all sorts of frames that do not necessarily contribute to the vitality cart.  The VSA agent can take the day "off" leaving the security checkpoint all together.  Even worse, your VSA agents can be taken over by raising doubts and insecurities.  What were once mild lingering doubts can grow into monsters.  In their worst form, they become limiting doubts. Limiting doubts are beliefs that have been reaffirmed so consistently that they have become hard and fast rules..."It's just the way I am!!!!""""


In these extreme cases your VSA screener has been tied up and tossed into the back room.  The limiting doubts (your bears, your Bubba) have stripped you of your badge, identity card and uniform.  They are doing the shopping, your conscious mind is not available (i.e.it's tied up at the moment)  Bubba has no interest, whatsoever, in your health and well being.  The mission of the VSA is being grossly compromised.  With Bubba at the helm your doubts and worries are being fed 10 times a minute.

We will go on from here, but.....

Who are you playing for?
Who is doing the shopping?

Enjoy the rest of Sunday!!!

Andy

Today's Contribution Journal

I've been working hard all day trying to find a look and feel for the Mental Pilates brand.  I have been working on this for years and years and not being a graphic designer has made it not even a hit or miss proposition, my efforts were more like a miss or miss proposition.

The challenge is on one hand the brand icon needs to reflect all of the hours of thought that underlies the Mental Pilates practice.  On the other hand, the brand icon needs to be simple enough to stand out in a 16 x 16 pixel icon in your browser tabs or bookmarks.  I have at least been consistent.  Every attempt erred on the side of being way too complex.  Many of you have lived through the Mental Pilates Lady with the tree in her head, the Mental Pilates guy that had slugs on the brain and many others that didn't even pass the wife & kids test.  (Thank you wife and kids for your honest feedback)  You see, since there is nobody in our immediate family that pretends to be a graphic artist most of the feedback was something like..."I don't like it.  I can explain why I don't like it, but I can not recommend a solution."

But, it isn't how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up.  Well today I tried another concept and showed it around, and low and behold, I waited and waited and it was OK!!!  She liked it!!  I do not think it will win a graphics design contest, but it doesn't seem to make people gag.  Which for me is unprecedented progress.  It also scales fairly nicely so it retains some meaning in the 16 x 16 pixel icon.

I am putting this front and center in my contribution journal.  Check it out on the Mental Pilates website and here in the blog.  There is still open debate on many details.  For instance, what do people think about the "head" that is in the Blog header?  Yes or no?

Any way, persistence pays off!!  I hope.  Let me know what you think.

Andy

The Program to Fix My Atrophied Self

Sure I’ll do the Mental Pilates program, I’ll help, and it can’t hurt. I thought. Taking the VIA Strengths survey would be a good place to start, I thought. I know my skills, I’m highly skilled at many things, and this will help me focus, I thought. When I completed the survey my initial reaction was okay, good survey, its accurate.
It stated that these are my top 5 Character Strengths
1. Creativity, ingenuity
2. Hope optimism, future-mindedness
3. Curiosity Interest, novelty-seeking, openness to experience
4. Open-mindedness judgment
5. Perspective and wisdom

My next thought was “So what?” and then it hit me. There it was- exactly the problem that Mental Pilates can help me fix. I know my strengths and I want to utilize them in the next phase of my career. But there it was “So what?” I thought and I realized I’d let myself “go down the rabbit hole” and the swirling doubts were and it was suddenly blindingly obvious why I was having such a tough time even deciding which jobs to apply for, never mind following through on the applications if I could decide.

I used to know how to do this, and like many things in my life this came naturally to me, it wasn’t until I’d been pelted repeatedly in the snowball fight of life; and settled into an unstructured and unemployed day to day for months that stretched to years, that luckily I was asked to participate in this program, because it is abundantly clear that I not only need it, but it is exactly what I need to begin to gain back my atrophied confidence and vitality.

we are wonderful

After tonight's inspiring session, I thought it would be fun if we all posted our strengths from the via survey. I think it would be fun to see what a talented and diverse team we have working on this project. As in Dave's earlier post about it takes 5, I think that the range of our talents is what is going to really bring this thing together. Comment away and lets celebrate the team!

Delivering value - quickly

Since our session last evening, my attention has been focused on Jim's observation that this practice must add noticeable value as soon as possible in order to retain interest.  I couldn't agree with the sentiment more.

What has been confounding me is what to do about it.  Just for the record, I am officially over my "trite" concerns.  I am certain, beyond doubt, that the Mental Pilates practice continues to make significant changes in my own life.  Changes beyond what I had imagined.  My productivity is up, procrastination down, energy up, drinking down, vitality up, lethargy down.  All good signs that I am becoming co-opted by my emotions less frequently, with less duration and intensity.  When I get "tempted" by my bears, I have a go to place in my mind where I simply WILL NOT TOLERATE any negative sentiment being directed towards my Core Identity.  I know that such sentiments are the work of my bears, which have no interest in MY health and wellbeing.  I am absolutely certain that my Core Purpose is to nurture behaviors that elicit vitality!!!  

Your mother's going to LOVE me; I have a special purpose!!!  (movie reference "The Jerk")

Given this reality, the question becomes how do we deliver these benefits as quickly as possible?  My reflection on this divides the prospective clients into the two camps.  For those who are seeking "mental fitness" this practice should deliver early results, as Jim clearly articulated earlier in this blog.  For those who are entangled in behaviors that have co-opted their own Core Identity; i.e. the bears have moved in to stay; the first milestone to strengthen their Core Identity.  That is to drill home the fact that your core identity is NOT the bear.  That the bear is an unwanted being who has taken you hostage; and your sick and tired of being the bear's bitch!!  Gaining absolute clarity about your core identity and purpose IS the path to the tipping point where you can re-co-opt your awareness back from the bear and utilize that new found source of energy to kick its ass out of your life.

I am very interested in anybody's thoughts about how to reach that critical first milestone more effectively and efficiently.  

My final thought on this subject is that the 7 skills in seven weeks webinar program is an Introductory Offer into the Mental Pilates practice.  I do  believe the skills can be "explained" in the seven week program, but just like learning to play a new musical instrument, an explanation is not sufficient.  It requires practice, practice, practice in order to achieve mastery.  Now I'm sure there will be those who are in such a situation that they may become frustrated with the rate of progress.  This is why, in addition to this offer, I offer one-on-one coaching services.  I have experience working with people to identify their Core Identity, their Core Purpose and a Vision that elicits vitality.  

Andy

This Morning Before Dawn

I was on my way out to do other things, but this made me stop and create this image....a wonderfully peaceful way to begin the day :)

The Omnipresent Bear...

So, we can all agree there's an inner bear within all of us. Most bears have triggers that let them out of their cage. My bear? His name is Doubt and he doesn't play fair. He's invited himself into my life 24/7.

Doubt is fueled by the over thinking and over analyzing. He also likes to snack on second guessing and fear. Doubt decided to hunker down with me full time when I lost my job. At times, I'm distracted, and I can forget about his presence. But no matter, that bear, he's still there...

Ok, so he's not always trying to maul me. Some days, he's just gnawing at me and occasionally smacking me around with those enormous paws. But, I refuse to share my "den" with him forever. With the help of Mental Pilates, my goal is to put this bear into permanent hibernation.