Awareness as a whole is a pretty big issue and I have collected and read many books and articles about this subject. Recently I noticed the great overlap of David R. Hawkins‘ work regarding the calibrated consciousness scale (the map of consciousness) using applied kinesiology with the inspiring channelled work of Esther & Jerry Hicks (also featured in the movie ‘The Secret‘ about the Law of Attraction).
Hawkins calles it calibration levels and Esther Hicks called it frequencies or vibrational interpretation (this jargon or terminology is also used in therapeutics and NLP). Eckhart Tolle, author of ‘A New Earth‘, featured on Oprah’s website probably calls it identification with a certain form and at the lower levels (Hawkins Scale: above 200=Truth / below 200= Falshood) identification with the (collective) painbody. Caroline Myss, medical intuitive & author of ‘anatomy of the spirit‘ also identifies the collective tribal energy circuit (First Chakra in eastern terminology). Myss greatest methaphor is the analogy of your bodies energy system with a bank-account and identify where your energy flows. Stop the leaks or you become energetically bankrupt which causes illness in your body. My association when watching Caroline Myss explaining this Energetic Bankaccount concept was with Robert Kiyosaki, author of the book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ in which he explaines the flow of money of the poor, the middle class and rich people [video] identifying assets (puts money in my pocket, will feed me) and liabilities (takes money out of my pocket, will eat me). The comparison of the importance of educating Financial Literacy and educating personal Energetic Literacy is rather interesting.

Back to awareness: When I meditate using only the Silva Method I am tuned in the Akasha field somewhat (Zero Point Field for scientists but what’s in a name), but when I also use the Heartmath (HeartCoherence) techniques I unlock and release creativity and new potential.
Burt Goldman, an 81 year old (retired) Silva instructor also known as the American Monk created a course named Quantum Jumping where you go to parallel dimensions when meditating using the Silva Method. In Silva you just go to your Lab and you meet your 2 advisors, but what if you just create a board of advisors, a mindteam if you will, and check the outcome in a parallel dimension immediately after your consult or brainstorm. Even if you only imagine it or visualize it: This is very powerful stuff and I haven’t even mentioned ESP or remote viewing.

I am aware that everyone chooses his or her own path in life, but although a skeptical approach is custom when dealing with these claims, one cannot ignore the impact experiences like these ideas have, even if it is just imagination and overwhelming evidence is pure luck according to witnesses. I’d like to end this personal awareness piece positive: Suspend (your thinking) & Hang in There, (free interpretation of Peter Senge’s Presence) and close with the wonderful affirmation:
“Everyday in every way, it is getting better and better!”

Chaos is paradoxical; you need a certain amount of chaos to be creative but not to the point that you feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff. Getting organized is helpful for people in offices and at home. Unwanted chaos is non-productive; there are several systems, tools and principles for this. Getting organized is a general topic within problem solving which is said to be most effective to clarify feelings because it is primarily aimed at the physical environmental level. The clean desk feeling, nice labeled folders, knowing where your stuff is stored and where to put it (back) when done.

Usually the problem of increasing unwanted chaos is that new stuff doesn’t have a place to store it.

A nice helpful diagram to process “stuff” from your in-basket to a destination from David Allen’s Book “Getting things done” :

The level of accepted chaos may vary from person to person. In my experience the tolerance level of chaos for men tends to be higher than it is for women. If the values of cleanliness and order differ within a household this may cause tension. For example a woman might feel uncomfortable with dirty laundry on the floor or a pile of used dishes in the kitchen long before a man finally does. Even within a emancipated society this might be one of the reasons women still do more of the household tasks than men…  (It might be interesting to use the value-system as a variable for social science research)

Order is the reshuffling of Chaos using sets of Rules. These rules don’t have to be logical, reasonable or even sane, but they do have to be internally consistent, and most of the things or people involved must fit or be made to fit the resulting Pattern. Sweeping unwanted facts under the Rug usually includes those who found them. In Reality, order exists in a sea of Chaos, for Order must be be recognized as such so that Meaning can be attached to it. [Source]

Life is not making a living, but designing your life

Using metaphors can be powerful and inspirational for creating a mission or identity. I am a …. (fill in a metaphore from Nature). You can start by choosing a primary element (fire, water, earth & air) and then identify with specific items or places in nature you feel drawn to. It is sometimes helpful to identify with a certain animal which has certain values and charachter-trades you seek or admire which will fit your chosen role. Life design uses natural metaphores for the several cycles and development phases (growth) in our lives. When you identify your personal area of growth in your current life phase, you can take apropriate action.

Robert Dilts‘ alignment exercise (generally used in NLP-practice):

Most of us start (or started) back to school each year full of enthusiasm and ambition. This year, we say, I will buckle down, stay on top of things, and get good grades. How often does that promise become a reality? Understanding your personality, and how it affects your learning style can lead you to more feasible resolutions, greater academic success, less guilt, and more fun!

Artisans

Artisans like their schoolwork to be fun and also practical, directly applicable to their personal aims. Hands-on, active learning is preferred to sitting in a chair and listening to a teacher talk. They prefer focus on details to leaping from thought to thought or concept to concept. In high school and college, Artisans choose courses and majors that will teach a skill they will use, whether that’s business administration, diesel mechanics, or chiropractic.

Guardians

Guardians respect their teachers’ decisions about what the content of their learning should be. They need and appreciate logical presentation of facts and ideas, and clear expectations for assignments — what is demanded of them and what the standards are. Teachers who leap from concept to concept will frustrate their Guardian students. Like Artisans, Guardians are likely to choose practical courses of study that will lead to secure careers.

Idealists

Idealists are excited and motivated by ideas, particularly those relating to people and relationships or an understanding of “Life.” Incorporating new learning into their guiding value system is critical for Idealists. They prefer teachers who act as coaches — who provide broad concepts, set up a launching pad for independent thinking, group discussion, and extrapolation, and then fill in the facts and information that support the concepts. Idealists often choose majors in the fine arts or literature, psychology, or the humanities.

Rationals

Like Idealists, Rationals are self-directed learners. They want to be challenged and provided with the means to pursue the ideas that are important to them. They are highly autonomous, and so don’t generally seek discussion. Teachers can support Rationals by sharing expertise and resources for learning and by giving them honest feedback as the students’ knowledge and expertise grows. Rationals often choose majors in science, mathematics, philosophy, or technology.

[Source: Newsletter from Advisorteam.com 1-2008]

Having a personal Mission helps setting the course of your life. To help formulate a personal mission statement based on values, qualities and talents visit the Missionbuilder (from Franklin Covey).

Another way to positively investigate possibilities within an organization is by the method’s and interviewing techniques of Appreciative Inquiry.

Manifestation Formula

The Manifestation formula is build up as follows:
Purpose +
Thought +
Vision +
Affirmation +
Feeling +
Writing in Time and Space +
Action with Energy on Matter +
Gratitude +
Perseverance =
Manifestation
[Twelve secrets for manifesting your vision, inspiration & purpose: how to make your dreams come true, 1999, by Dr. D. Richard Bellamy]

Meaningful Life

The meaning of life and meaning can be broken down to the following elements:

1. Relationships; involvement with family, partner or friends.
2. Work; commitment with a job, school or primary occupation.
3. Personal well-being; an individualistic orientation with emphasis on experiencing meaning by enjoyment of life, having fun, and maintaining physical and mental health.
4. Self-realization; an orientation on- and reaching of tangible or non-tangible goals and psychological skills.
5. Helpfulness; an altruistic orientation on helping people in general.
6. Faith; dedication and practice of religious-spiritual or social-political beliefs.
7. Materialism; meaning coming from aiming at materialistic goals and satisfactions.
8. Future / Hope; focus and expectation.

In essence these above elements should be in balance. Very strong emotions related to one or more of these elements or focused dedication to only one aspect may suggest an imbalance.

Questions to find your meaning in life

1. RELATIONSHIPS
   I belong to ….., When I’m with … I…., People who are most important to me are…. because… ,I like … (name person / people) most because …., people like me because…., I classify myself as ….
2. WORK
   My occupation is…. because…, What I do is…. because …, What I like about it is…, what I dislike about it is…, What is the importance of these activities?… Things I do well are…., In my work I add value to people’s lives by…., My colleagues value me most for….
3. PERSONAL WELL-BEING
   I love to …., I’m extremely happy when I…., The nicest thing what could happen to me is…. because…., things I enjoy doing are …., I feel healthy when I …, things that take much of my energy are… and I prefer…..
4. SELF REALIZATION
   I want to ….because….., My goal in life is…., I know I can ….. , the things I want to be remembered for are…., I’m proud of myself when I ….. because…., things I am good at are…., I feel best when I……
5. HELPFULNESS
   I help …..with…. because….., I gladly give advice to…., people I’d love to help most are …., When I help I feel…., helping others makes me….., I want to be helped with….because….
6. FAITH
   I believe in…., the best society or system is….because…., when I die …., I have to…because…., I know my belief is valid because…., I trust….because… ,Things that are most important to me are…
7. MATERIALISM
   I want to have….because…., if I won the jackpot of the lottery I would…., My most valuable possession is…., My life becomes better if I have ….., the first next big thing to buy is…., If I lost everything I would…. The possession which represents me most is….
8. FUTURE / HOPE
   Someday I hope to…., At the end of my life (when I look back) I …., The future holds…., I wish…., I dream about…, My vision is…., In time I will….., If I could change the future I would….because…., If I could change the past…..

Life’s Morality….

In ethics there a three kinds of moral:

1. Intention of doing (what is the purpose or goal / why?)
2. Procedure of doing (how or what is the best way of doing it?)
3. Effect (what are the results of an action?)

Giving meaning to one’s life and reflect upon existence on earth means this individual has awareness of the ability to change perspective.

This Meta-awareness with the necessity to constantly classify and put things in new perspective is essential for learning and growth. This thought-process was initiated by use of the senses. This primary philosophy also creates borders between self, matter, others and world. Being in it’s most enlightened state all this may be experienced as being one.

The art of problem solving

Although problem solving is something people have a natural tendency to do, giving this process the status of an Art also suggests more complexity to this subject. Problem-solving goes beyond physical, cultural, science or language. Everybody can solve problems, in fact we practically do it all the time. Every thought and every decision is in a way solving part of a problem. At the same time one might suggest by those decisions and actions following this (personal) problem solving process, new problems of another kind arise. Most of our economy is based on solving and creating new problems in some form. Then why bother analyzing and describing this process you might ask. Because when you know the underlying principles, your processes of solving problems become easier, more fun, and it helps you grow as an individual giving your environment a positive influence. Most interesting about solving problems are the processes themselves, not primarily the result. I might reframe that to enjoying the process of getting what you want.Like other Art-studies, problem solving has several components: history, practices, theories, models, concepts, references in other arts, sciences and spiritually. There can be no final consensus on a best way to present it because describing the Art of problem solving is in itself a problem solving process, which is never finished.

Problem Classification

To define your problem-solving strategy it is important to classify problems first into one of the three following categories.

• Level 1: Urgent & Important – Highest Priority
• Level 2: Important / not so urgent – Medium Priority
• Level 3: Minor importance / no urgency – Low Priority

If you have more than one problem choose the one with the highest priority.

Essentially, there are two types of problems: analytic and divergent. An analytic problem is convergent in nature, that is, it has a single correct answer. Divergent problems allow for many possible solutions.

Phases in formulating a solution

Problem-development

1. formulating the problem (what and how did it get your attention, perceived facts)
2. acceptation (accept the problem as is)
3. reformulating (problem description, datasheet, examples, theories, references)

Idea-development
Questions which could be asked in this phase:
- what is good about this problem or situation?
- how can I use this problem or situation?
- what is not yet perfect?
- what am I willing to do to improve this situation?
- what will I stop doing to improve the situation?
- what is funny about it, that I didn’t notice before?
- how will I enjoy when I reach my goal and this problem is solved?

1. analyze and purge (effort to find logical solutions)
2. exhaustion / frustration
3. relaxation / incubation
4. creative sidestep
5. Eureka!

Idea judgment

1. working out the plan (critical phase)
2. planning the approach

Who?

Who are the people involved in a problem-solution team?

• Problem-owner (Who’s problem is it?)
• Fellow Problem owner or involved persons (participants in solving the problem)
  - Generalists
  - Specialists
  - Outsiders
• Secretary (notes everything what is being said)
• Facilitator or coach (is not involved with the content, only the process)

Session rules:

1. postpone judgment
2. you are allowed to lie
3. privacy to the outside, openness to the inside
4. Extra attention to negative questions or remarks
5. No hierarchy, no arrogance
6. Critical phase afterwards

Brainstorming Many people, when trying to solve a problem, develop a mental block. This may be a result of ‘thinking too hard’. Then, later, without conscious effort, a solution comes to mind. One way to overcome a mental block in the problem-solving process is to hold a brainstorming session.

The purpose of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible. The more ideas a team has to choose from, the greater the chances are of finding one that is successful. Ideas are generated rapidly, which prevents individuals from dwelling on why an idea might not work. Evaluation of the ideas comes at a later stage of solution development.

General guidelines for holding brainstorming sessions:

1. Allow no criticism. Some people become self-conscious when they feel they may be criticized, which inhibits them from offering ideas. For this reason, it is important that ideas are not judged at this time.
2. Encourage outrageous ideas. This often results in team members going beyond the normal thought process.
3. Encourage piggybacking of other ideas. One idea often stimulates a better one.
4. Evaluate the ideas at the end of the session or after a day or two. Eliminate those that are not feasible.

Any criticism of ideas must be constructive. The team should know that it is okay to laugh at and have fun discussing the ideas. Keep in mind that decisions made at this time are not always final; ideation is an ongoing process.

Besides the coach as moderator, each brainstorming group should select a leader to direct the discussion. If a leveling off of ideas occurs, the leader should encourage new ideas by asking questions such as:

“By altering the materials how could we . . . ?”
“What might happen if we changed its shape?”
“How could we adapt it to make it move faster?”
“How can we make it smaller, lighter, etc.?”

One team member (or the secretary) should record all ideas and useful comments.