The Self Bias
We believe that our own self is more important than others. This sense of self importance often leads to a quest to make all other living things and material resources on this planet self-serving.

The goals of power, wealth, fame and status are examples of self bias.

The Species Bias
We believe that human kind is more important than any other species on the planet. We believe that we are the pinnacle of evolution and that we are the only life form in the Universe. When humans cause the extinction of other species it is acceptable in the name of progress or better living. Progress being defined as human progress.

Cutting down the rain forest, poisoning the rivers, over fishing the oceans, or euthanizing animals are examples of species bias.

THE TIME BIAS
We believe that this moment in time is more important than any other. We focus most of our time and attention on making results happen in this lifetime. In general we are willing to borrow from the future (and therefore let them suffer the consequences of our actions if necessary) so that we can live better today.

Drug abuse, global warming, and massive public debt are examples of time bias.

CONCLUSION
The biases are not necessarily good or bad, they simply exist as part of the human condition. The goal here is to become aware of how they underly our perspectives by default so that in awareness we can elevate our perspective and make the best choice possible for all life.. not just for our self or the human race at this time.

The latest – I’m currently in San Francisco visiting friends and working remotely with Shereen for the next few weeks. I’m working on several projects at the moment:
- Growing Full Potential Speaking biz
- Growing Global Sky and Outbounders
- Moving forward on an invention that allows you to work from laptop while laying down
- Researching best location for Full Potential Community in Philippines
- Development of Full Potential Club membership area (pretty cool)
- Building up Full Potential Show on Youtube

Over the last month or so I was living in Portland, Oregon with Shereen and her family which is where she’s from originally. Our plans are to stay in San Francisco until mid-October then Vegas for a week or so to see family and then Scottsdale for an event in early November before we head back to Portland for a couple of weeks to wrap-up some family business related things there before we venture off to Hawaii (the big island) as a possible landing spot and future location for the Full Potential Resort. We’ll be there at least through December.

I’ve decided to start sharing more about my personal life than I have in the best. I used to avoid it because I thought it might be considered “fluff” and I wanted to only give you the highest value ideas I have when I write and avoid any Ego spotlight – but I realize that the personal “context” stuff is part of an important connecting and relating process. Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts on this as your feedback will help me know whether I should continue this course of more personal share on top of the insights.

The Ego makes a poor master but a wonderful instrument. Like a beast with its own intentions, and dangerous to its owner if uncaged, unharnessed or unguided, the Soul must skillfully master this human body and brain.

REMEMBERING TEMPORARINESS

Going from dream state to waking I find myself wondering about the temporariness of it all. How lives when surrounded by things like war or when death is regularly discussed or shown openly – it must be easier to see the transitory nature of life and imagine how soon our own end will unfold.

DEATH IS ALWAYS JUST A BREATH AWAY

I think we live with the illusion that we have “some” number of years stretching out before us before we even have to consider the prospect of an ending. To remember that death always exists, even if its just a breath away from some accident or disease – is paramount.

How can we function and create something of significance in this life when at the same time we are in recognition that this life will surely end?

GOAL SEEKING ONLY FOR INDIVIDUAL COMFORT OR STATUS IS SILLY

I think the answer came out before I even finished – live with the idea that the individual self is temporary and that its goal seeking for recognition or comfort is of the most ridiculous sort. Be focused instead on leaving something behind for the next generations of humanity. Be focused on passing the baton instead of building a home.

LEAVING SOMETHING BEHIND

What would you like to leave behind to the next generation coming up behind you. What will make their passage smoother or more enlightened? How can you raise the consciousness of the coming generations to raise the overall consciousness of the planet as wave upon wave of life passes through it? Indeed these are the questions you should be asking your self.

HIGHER ENERGY IS ETERNAL

By aligning with the greater idea of serving humanity you connect with a higher, more eternal source of energy. You are no longer operating as a single individual. Though you may die the true nature of your goal lives on and may be carried out by individuals aligning with the same source. The only thing that dies is the physical sense perception of the individual. On Earth, thoughts, dreams and ideas live on in the minds of the living. And the higher energy of “mind” is not Earth bound – it operates in the dimension we know as thought. Thought energy is boundless and eternal, though it may be accessed by mortal brains. Higher truth may only be accessed in the realm of thought energy.

For example the inventions of the past on Earth and the many inventions of the future have their home in thought energy. The difference between what arrives in this lifetime or not is the ability of the receiver (the imagination of the visionary) to discern or extract thought energy in a clear and usable form during a period in which the resources for its construction are available. A cave man could not construct a rocket ship, though the possibility for its construction existed as evident by its later construction, the probability of its construction during the Bronze age was nil. Leonardo Da Vinci worked up inventions on paper that would become a reality hundreds of years later. He was able to discern and extract them from the thought dimension as his creativity operated there most of the time, but he wasn’t able to construct them on the Earth plane since most of the resources and knowledge did not yet exist on the Earth plane yet.

HIGHER ENERGY LIVES ON BEYOND PHYSICAL DEATH

The goal of your higher energy may still be carried out. What dies is not “you” its your lower energy, the energy that is on such a lower wavelength it has become matter. That physical matter, or lower energy is what dies on Earth. The higher energy is released and continues on in other forms, in higher thought. At the spiritual level higher energy has a tendency to transcend individualism – it can see and feel through multiple physical bodies or, in the terminology of individuals, it can appear as “one” spiritual entity. But higher energy is boundless in form and therefore it cannot be placed and labeled in a single box.

LIVING IT

The purest expression of an individual human being is the serving of now and future generations – sharing information and creating environments that will serve them best in their temporary journey across the Earth plane. What will you leave behind?

THE INTENTION BEHIND OUR INTENTION

The world is a temporary place and our lives in it, incredibly temporary! There must be a spirit greater than what is observable in this world – it must reside in each of us, it must move us with an intention greater than we know. We must tune in to know this intention – we must be consciously seeking it to find it and it must be given permission to direct our lives. It must be the same intention that gave birth to us and all forms of life before we ever came upon the scene. As a human being it was impossible to have choice upon the matter for we were never in the world, so before we were born there was the intention of our parents and their parents and their parents and so on down the line of a mind boggling succession of intentions that eventually gave birth to the life that now walks the planet today. But what before them? What ultimately intended life in the first place? Surely there was a great intention prior to life even existing – even the concept of life, where does it come from? It surely stands apart from matter – and even if all atoms in this world are alive what gives it life? What is life and why do we exist?..I’m not just asking this question for humanity but asking it for all life forms. Let’s explore.

EVIDENCE FOR A CAUSE

The reason of our existence may not be easily comprehended in this short life-time, but the observance of a cause that precedes all life gives us almost an undeniable evidence for an intention that precedes that of all individual intention. This intention is what we not only can have faith for but that we can rely on for existing. Just as one might look upon the ancient Pyramids or temples and know beyond a doubt that an intention preceded their existence – even though their creators are nowhere to be found.

A HANDS-OFF OR HANDS-ON CREATOR?

Now begs the question: Were we and the laws of the universe created and now we’re running on our own power? – As there seems to be no God really intervening in our every day affairs. Or were we created and now the creator hides behind a thin veil of energy that we cannot see with our physical eyes nor hear with our physical ears, but we can still surely feel it and be guided by it (therefore it still intervenes albeit indirectly) by purely tuning into it with the quieting of our minds and the directing of our own individual intention? If so, this gives rise to a third question – why? Why must we be so vigilant in our seeking this creator. Like a child forced to find it’s parents – seemingly ill equipped for a world full of delusion, distraction and temptation.

WHY MUST WE SEEK IT?

If this creator does exist behind a thin veil and one of its laws is not to intervene with the affairs of life or man – then the individual intention to seek it out is then perhaps a test? Or a gift of love? If you do not seek it out, you are not wrong or judged by the creator – you are simply running on your own power and must be doing well enough without it. But if you are in trouble or suffering, by seeking out the creator you are then given comfort and love. Like a child perhaps steadying itself to walk – the creator chooses not to intervene so that the maximum growth and development of the child is not hindered. But when the child cries out for help the parent is there to offer comfort. Still not sheltering the child or doing the works it must do, but offering it a place of rest to renew and recharge, and a source of guidance to help it be maximally efficient with its use of limited resources such as mortal time and energy.

POSSIBLE ONGOING INTENTIONS OF A CREATOR

The final resolution being that if indeed a creator exists, evident in that an intention MUST precede all life forms in order for there to be a cause of life, and that creator is not a visible part of our every day affairs it must be behind a veil of some sort:

• testing us

• awaiting our call for help and guidance

• or both.

WHAT THESE INTENTIONS MEAN FOR EVERY DAY LIVING

If a creator is testing us – we should make the most of this life through the development of our character and the sincere concern for the impact our daily actions have on our core self or Soul, and the impact it has on all other life forms (not just human) - since these were also intended by the creator and we must not be so arrogant as to judge them to have been made for solely humanities enjoyment or consumption.

If it is awaiting our call for help and guidance – then we should seek it out daily, in earnest – for the source of power it must provide would dwarf any and all visible creations, since it is the root power of all creations.

WHAT IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN A CREATOR?

If you don’t believe in a creator, the first consequence is that you won’t seek it out – and you will learn what little your own power has to offer in face of entropy (chaos, darkness) in this world. In this case lack of faith is not bad or evil, but as a consequence it cuts you off from its power and guidance, which magnifies suffering and may lead to actions considered bad or evil, for as you stumble in the dark of ignorance you are bound to trip up others in their journey towards the light.

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR YOUR NON-BELIEF AND WHY IT MIGHT BE WORTH A SECOND LOOK

If you have sought out a creator with great expectation and been disappointed with the vicissitudes that have come in spite of your faith – then consider what you gain by non-belief? The heart may harden as you determine that you are on your own. You curse an invisible creator and you forever cut yourself off from perhaps a more divinely inspired plan. Perhaps the suffering you experienced in spite of your faith is the loving hand at work, showing you what you needed to learn – a painful whip that was meant to help you let go of your unnecessary attachments. But if upon the first whip you cry, hang on to your attachments even tighter (as if they were permanent) and curse the creator, believing there is none – you turn away from the guidance that was perhaps lovingly guiding you with the most fundamental tools of life – pain and pleasure.

MY PERSONAL POSITION

All of this said, I don’t know if there is a creator because I have no other evidence than the conclusions I’ve formed above and a few personal experiences with a feeling of love that seems to transcend anything I have experienced in this life, which came only when I was earnestly seeking to know myself in relation to a creator. I certainly feel as though there is a strong possibility for a creator and even great probability that one exists, but I don’t know with absolute conviction, which I think is healthy – history has shown that those who have felt certain about their faith have dictated and crusaded to prove others wrong with severe consequence.

I do know that when I’m not seeking to know the creator of this universe that I feel so distant from a source of love and guidance within myself that I dare not consider any other alternative. I follow no religious doctrine nor have any agenda other than this: consider the possibility.

CLOSING THE MIND TO POSSIBILITY IS NEVER A SMART IDEA

Like anything in life, unless you know for sure, closing your mind to the possibility blinds you from seeing opportunities that could pass right in front of your closed eyelids, figuratively speaking. Keep an open mind. No matter what you have suffered, consider the possibility that the creator exists, it’s testing you and its waiting to be sought daily for guidance. Consider the possibility that in order to hear it, you’ll need to take time out in silence to quiet the chatter of the mind, which normally acts as a great noise drowning out the more subtle energy vibrations whispering inside you. If you’re still alive, you still have time to gather more evidence – the trial is still on.

Life is like a book, you don’t rush through the chapters to find out at the end if its good. Enjoying each chapter is what makes it good.

So often we get attached to the achievement of some goal, or the outcome of some project – and we forget that all the little moments leading up to the conclusion are the “meat” of life and, conclusions are only a very small part of it. If we hunger for the outcomes we so desperately seek – we rush through the most important part and arrive at the end only wishing we could do it all over again, a little slower this time.

It doesn’t matter where you are physically – what matters is where you are mentally. That overlays your physical environment and is actually the “dwelling place” of your awareness and consciousness. You respond equally if not more to what’s in your mental space than you do to what’s in your physical space.

A VACATION IS NOT A VACATION IF YOU BRING YOUR BUSINESS WITH YOU

You can fool yourself temporarily by moving to a new environment, but unless you clean and organize and create the optimum mental environment, all your efforts to do this in your physical environment will be in vain.

ZONES OF INTENTION

Setting intention is the starting place of controlling will power. Getting clear on your “zones of intention” as you go about your day will help you to see what you’re actually focusing on. Think through your zones of intention for the day. Resist the temptation to engage in the “Zone of Obligation” .. this is not really a zone you intend, but rather one that arises as a result of your previous action. The seeds you planted earlier in life demand harvesting – and you’ll feel the obligation to water them otherwise they will die.

PERHAPS ITS TIME TO LET SOMETHING DIE

It’s smart to periodically consider the things that you might want to let die. The prospect of something you worked so hard to nurture and grow just die might seem scary. Especially if it’s a job, career or business that is your only source of income. If that’s the case it might be more prudent to plant some seeds that in time will be something that will keep you sustained if and when you decide to let the other “plants” of your past die. The important point here is this: don’t let the majority of your life exist in the Zone of Obligation. The concept is very simple: You should want to spend your time on something. If you don’t – find ways to stop doing it, minimize your time doing it, or find ways to make it more enjoyable. It’s that simple.

EMAIL = ZONE OF OBLIGATION

One major force in the zone of obligation is email – it is always filling up. Always supplying you with the obligation to response. Its easy to get lost in this zone and feel like you’re working hard but not getting anywhere. That’s because the zone of obligation is rarely producing anything of significant value – (unless you’re proactively managing it). If you simply make it a point to empty out your inbox each day you are not consciously thinking about what’s moving you closer to your ideal experiences in the future. What are the seeds you want to plant today that might grow into more desirable experiences in the future? Minimize your time in the zone of obligation to just 2 hours or less a day. Penalize yourself if you engage in more than 2 hours a day.

Just by giving myself a 2 hour time-window for being in the Zone of Obligation, I have noticed a significant change in how quickly I sort through my email. When I first open my inbox, I pick out my priority A emails out of all. I respond to them quickly and file the rest away for future use. Instead of making it a goal to clear out all unread messages.. now I just try to identify and clear out Priority A items. If I get to the other ones great, if not – no harm done. My goal is not to get through all my email – its to spend the least amount of time in my email possible and the only way I can do that is if I’m selective about which email I’m handling.

If I have extra “email handling time” because I didn’t hit my two hour daily maximum.. I can handle other emails on a slow day like Saturday or Sunday if I want.. though I don’t really consider that a recreational activity. Remember the biggest trap with email is that almost everyone responds to them! The less emails you respond to the less responses you get.. the more your email pile goes down. Most email has no real consequence in your life anyway – so what are you doing responding to them!?

FILTERING OUT THINGS YOU WANT TO READ LATER

When you first log into your email the last thing you want to do is read a newsletter, even if you care about what’s in it.

Gmail has a great filtering system that allows you to move all your non-urgent emails that you want to get to later.. like if you’ve signed up to newsletters etc.. I’ve created about 4 different newsletter filters for newsletter categories like:

Favorite Newsletters (All my favorites)
PD Newsletters (Personal Development & Spiritual Growth)
IM Newslettters (Internet Marketing)
Investor Newsletters

With filters you can just have all the emails that come in from newsletters go there for later reading when I proactively plan to go through and read them. For everything else that I’m subscribed to that I don’t care about.. I unsubscribe. Think about the amount of time you spend deleting or archiving irrelevant emails over the course of a year, five years or even ten years – reduce that number as much as possible by keeping it out in the first place.

GET CLEAR ON YOUR ZONES

Having a high value routine already mapped out will help you keep you on track in the areas that are important to you and out of the sticky Zone of obligation. I suggest create a small list of what I call “zones of intention”. This way you can ask yourself at any time during the day: “Which zone am I in right now?” For example I have created zones like:

• Zone of Planning – I’m in this zone whenever I’m planning how I’ll use my time or money.
• Zone of Personal Growth – I’m in this zone whenever I’m doing my high value routine (see below).
• Zone of Creation – I’m in this zone whenever I’m writing or creating something.
• Zone of Recreation – I’m in this zone whenever I’m doing something FUN.
• Zone of Obligation – I’m in this zone whenever I’m doing something because I feel like I have to do it.

OUT OF OBLIGATION

If you feel obligated to dwell in the Zone of Obligation for any reason – find ways to shortern your time there. Resist going there first thing in the morning. Take charge of your life and proactively decide the things you want to plant today that will lead to a better harvest tomorrow!

To stay out of obligation I create a high value routine or what Anthony Robbins calls “hour of power” or what my friend Yo Pal Hal calls “The Miracle Morning”. I use a program on my Ipad / Iphone called “Touch Goal”, it allows me to add a number of actions that I want to do on a daily basis and assign a positive point value to them. It also allows me to add actions I don’t want to do, or minimize and add a negative point value to them. This simple system turns positive actions and empowering habits into a bit of a daily game with myself. It helps me live in the zones of intention that I most want to be in and empowers my life.

Here are a sample of positive actions I have setup:

Write Dreams: +10 pts (When I wake up I write my dreams from night before for insights)
Visionize: +20 pts (During meditation I will visualize what I am intending for my life and the world.)
Meditate +20 pts (I focus on breathing 100 deep breaths, relaxing and keeping my attention centered on high value thoughts and behaviors like. I will write about this in another post.)
Exercise: +20 pts (I do a five minute exercise of jumping jacks and affirmations to jump start the day.. something simple to start my day off right and get my heart and blood pumping.)
Read: +20 pts (20pts for every half hour I read)
Eat a Salad: +10 pts
Insight write: +10 pts (I plan to write a 10 minute insight per day, sometimes it takes a little longer.)
Life Write: +10 pts (I spend 10 minutes to reflect on how what I’m doing, logging my time and money usage and what changes I’d like to make)
One Kind Deed: +10 pts
Wealth Hour: +20 pts (For every hour I focus on activities that will genuinely drive revenue into my business like marketing and sales, I give myself 20 pts)

Negative action items:

Check Email: -10pts (I give myself a maximum of 2 hours a day to check email, for every hour I go over I deduct 10 pts)

70% SUCCESS RATE

The important thing to point out is that I’m not trying to get 100% success rate every day. That would drive me crazy and demotivate me. Instead I’m aiming for about a 70% success rate. And I double up on some items in a single day while not doing others. For example I might read 1 hour a day

KNOW WHY YOU’RE DOING SOMETHING

Its important to think-through “why” you’re doing something. You can just list a bunch of action items down and hope that you are going to force yourself to do it every day. You might be able to start it easy enough but your subconscious mind will be analyzing the pay-off and determine whether its worth continuing. You need to come up with your own reasons for doing something.

MAKE IT SING FOR YOU

It’s important to name your action items and assign point values that are meaningful to you. If you aren’t excited to do them, it’s likely you won’t continue to do them. For example I used to call Insight write “Free Blog” as in, a free writing for blog. But “free blog” didn’t really make me feel any kind of emotional juice, but calling it an “Insight write” helped me feel more excited to write down my insights. I used to call the “Life write” action item a “Free write” and again it didn’t really juice me. And in the description part of the task I had alotted 20 minutes for Free write and 20 minutes for Life write.. but when it came down to it, this seemed like a lot of writing! And I wasn’t even sure what I would cover in that time period. So subconsciously I was just kind of skipping over these items. That’s a sign that you need to change something – the name of the action item, the timing of it and the points you give to it.. keep changing it until that all sings to you!

GROWING IN ALL THE BIG 6

By having the above actions as part my daily routine – I feel like I’m growing physicaly, mentally, spiritually, socially, emotionally and financially each day.

ACTION ITEMS:

1) If you have an Iphone or Ipad get Touch Goal or setup a program like it on your computer even if its just a simple excel spread sheet.
2) Add in all the key actions you want to perform on a daily basis. Be realistic and think through how much time you’re going to spend doing each item every day. You can use my list or create your own – remember to make it sing for you.
3) Aim for about a 70% success rate over the next few days but give yourself room in the beginning to do less than that. Celebrate small improvements on a daily basis.
4) Keep a daily “life write” to record your success with this system and feel free to share your results with Zones of Intention in this post.
5) Minimize the time you spend in the Zone of Obligation. Try reducing the time you spend on email to less than 2 hours a day and penalize yourself for every hour you go over.

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James Rick is founder of Full Potential Academy and host of the Full Potential Show. James helps people young and old people become powerful entrepreneurs and world leaders. Get a free chapter from his book “Unleash Your Full Potential” at FullPotential.com

THE BRAIN CANNOT HELP BUT ANSWER
What’s 2 +2? The brain cannot help but try to answer any question you give it. The difference between quality thinking and ‘stinkin thinkin’ is the quality of questions being asked by the silent voice in your head.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE
A well defined question invites the creative solutions of others. You cannot effectively put the priceless value of other peoples mind to work unless you give them a specific question to answer.

ENGAGE THE INVISIBLE ARMY
When you dwell on a question long and deep enough, you put the power of your subconscious mind to work on it as well.

ACTION
What is the #1 question of your life right now? Spend some time drilling down and making the question crystal clear.

We look up in the night sky and we see the lights of stars, satellites and planes that emit light energy within the spectrum of observable light. It’s easy to assume this is all that exists in the night sky.. but through technology we know better now – the lights (and the objects that reflect that light) not capable of being observed by the naked eye are still there – they exist whether we can see them or not. Just because we may not have the special technology that allows us to observe them – that doesn’t void their existence.

What this means is that stuff exists whether we can see them or not. Stuff exists independent of our direct physical perception or belief about it.

Is it possible that some Souls have a ‘special’ perception – to see things that others don’t see? Much like a human equipped with special technology? Yes, and likely. From what we know in the observable reality – all humans are endowed with some special gifts or talents. Why should talent to be limited to only what we can observe physically. Talents of mind and more specifically talents (or developed skills) of special perception are very likely.

Perhaps it’s easier to believe in the special perceptions of technology because any person can use it and instantly acquire the same special perceptions as any other person that uses it. Whereas special perceptions of mind may easily be discredited as hallucinations. (And on that point who’s to say that life itself isn’t one big hallucination? Time to watch the
Matrix again)

It seems that truth or fact is only accepted as such if two or more people can independently arrive at the same conclusion. The world today generally accepts this as the ‘litmus test’ or standard for all truth.

And while this standard works out well in most every day / practical contexts , it falters badly in the realm of mind where no two perceptions are alike.

When we go to sleep at night and dream – are we visiting a ‘real’ place in another dimension in an altered state of consciousness? .. Or is our brain manufacturing a very believable illusion?

Although your dream can not be independently verified by a third party, this does not mean you should downplay its ‘real’ value to you. You had the dream.. You visited that lake, tasted the wine, talked with the local townspeople. It’s a ‘real’ experience for you! Just because there’s no continuation into your waking life doesn’t mean it didn’t happen or it happened in some ‘false’ reality.

Reality itself is one big continuation and all impressions whether they be in waking consciousness or in dreams or meditations or trances etc. are REAL impressions. They impact you on some level. I have had profound dreams that changed my ‘real’ life forever. The question is not whether they are ‘real’ or not .. The question is how SIGNIFICANT are they to you NOW?

You will only begin to discover their significance once you’ve given them their rightful place in your REAL-ity.

By not fully choosing to know it, by default you are making the choice to not know it. Liberate yourself from the preconditioned patterns of thought and beliefs about how to meet your desires. Transmute all sense desires into a desire to know God.You might have massaged the concept of God around in your head like imagining a good meal,but have you ever really made a committed effort to know God? Have you ever really consumed God with a relish? Make a commitment to try it for a time – what’s one year in an entire lifetime? Maybe after you get a taste you will not want to stop.