Quantum Physics of Beliefs - Subconscious Intentions

"There is only what we create through our engagement with others and with events... We inhabit a world that is always subjective and shaped by our interactions with it." ~ Margaret Wheatley, President of The Berkana Institute, a global charitable leadership foundation

A growing body of scientific evidence in the fields of physics, systems theory, chaos theory, biology, and psychology explains how and why vision directly influences both the physical world and our perception of it.

Science has not definitively identified how vision works, nor has it found the formula for summoning human desire into existence. However, much scientific evidence supports the fact that vision influences both the physical world and our perception of it - even if it doesn't explain exactly how and why vision works.

There are several scientific theories that support and describe the mechanics of vision. These theories provide evidence that we are direct participants in creating reality at a most fundamental level.

1.    Quantum physics supports the notion that reality is not fixed or determined, but operates based upon potentials and relationships that we can influence.

2.    Sensitivity to initial conditions, a concept within the Chaos theory, supports the idea that a small change to a system, like your vision, can make remarkable and significant changes over time.

3.    Systems theory points out the interconnection that exists between you and everything that surrounds you. Your vision is a tool to make you aware of the connections that are most important to bring you what you desire.

This section is not a scholarly compilation of scientific ideas, but every attempt has been made to present the views accurately. The ideas presented here may challenge your worldview of "how things work." Some of these ideas may be difficult to understand or seem far out, but I hope you will take away from these articles an increased understanding of how and why vision works. This will give you greater confidence to use vision in your life.

Subconscious Intention

Cybernetics is a branch of science that studies communication and control in machines and humans. The study of cybernetics in humans focuses on the functional relationship between the conscious and the subconscious mind to accomplish goals. A theory within the field of cybernetics is that the subconscious mind is primarily responsible for guiding us toward our goals.

Cybernetics suggests that for the subconscious to work in our favor, we must first consciously program the subconscious with our desire - our positive vision of a preferred future.

The subconscious mind will then function as a goal-striving mechanism, automatically taking care of the details that are necessary to bring us what we desire.

Our subconscious has an important impact on our vision. Once we consciously intend something, the subconscious mind operates to bring us what we desire.

The subconscious works the same whether we program it with a positive or negative vision. If we think that we are a failure, we will become aware of obstacles that will help us fail. If we tell ourselves that we are successful, we will notice opportunities to make us successful. The principle is that simple, but it takes faith to try it.

I "lose the faith" myself from time to time. I envision things that I do not really want. It is strange that after all that I have studied and experienced about the positive results of vision, I still forget to focus on what I want instead of what I don't want. I find myself focusing on the negative because routines are hard to break. It is sometimes easier to expect that I will not get what I want than to believe that if I commit to what I want, I will get it.

Our Influence on Reality

There are different opinions about whether material reality is a subjective or objective experience. Material reality is what we experience as solid around us. A chair, a tree, an apple, a shoe, and a person are all elements of our material reality.

One view of material reality states that it is objective and independent of our minds. This view suggests that material reality exists independently of us, and we are passive players in a game. Another view is that material reality is an extension of our own minds. This suggests that we are active participants who influence how material reality is presented around us.

A physics experiment done by Thomas Young, an English scientist in the nineteenth century, helped reveal the relationship that exists between material reality and us. The experiment was designed to examine how subatomic particles of matter, like photons, can be both particles and waves at the same time. The difference between a particle and a wave is significant. A particle is a small ball of matter like a marble that makes a concentrated dot when it hits something. A wave consists of a crest and a trough like a wave of water that spreads out when it hits something.

The following twentieth-century version of Young's famous double-slit experiment demonstrated that the experimenter's observation in the experiment influenced the result in material reality.

The materials in the experiment consisted of a light source that produced one photon at a time, a barrier with two slits, and a photon-sensitive plate. The experiment had three phases. In the first phase, photons were fired one at a time toward the barrier, which had one slit open and the other shut. With only one slit open, what appeared on the photon-sensitive plate was a single band of light. This phase of the experiment demonstrated that a photon is a particle.

In the next phase of the experiment, both slits were open. After many photons were fired, a series of light and dark bands developed on the photon-sensitive plate. This pattern indicated that the photon was functioning as a wave. In this experiment, there appears to be a paradox: the photon demonstrates properties of both a particle and a wave. This may not make sense to you, but it has been replicated many times in a laboratory under strict scientific protocols. What is most important about this experiment is what happened next.

The third phase of the experiment provided evidence about how we influence material reality. It was carried out exactly as in phase two with one difference. The photon device fires one photon at a time with both slits open. However, in this phase of the experiment, a detector was placed at the entrance to each of the two slits, observing each photon to determine which slit the photon went through.

What showed up on the screen behind the two slits were two distinct bands of light. This is characteristic of a particle pattern. This was contrary to what should happen. In the preceding experiment, when the experimenter didn't observe the photon as it was fired at the two-slit barrier, a wave pattern was detected on the photon screen behind the slits. The experimenter seemingly changed reality by the act of observing a photon during the experiment versus looking at the result of the photons hitting the screen. This phase of the experiment demonstrated that when the experimenter intended the experiment to be about observing photons as individual particles, the photons acted as particles.

This is an example of the concept that, in any given moment, multiple possibilities exist. If our intention is to see a photon as a particle rather than as a wave, the wave-particle function collapses in favor of our intention. Once we decide what we want, we collapse all of the other potentials into a single reality; other potential realities become unlikely, and when we take action, they vanish. By having intention and making choices, we become active participants in influencing our reality.

Physicists who have studied the double-slit experiment don't know how human intervention changes the action of subatomic particles. They can see the results of the scientists' influence, but they do not know why quantum particles react differently under the influence of intention. The fact is that observers become participants in the reality they are observing. There is interdependence between the observer and material reality.

We have more or less influence on reality, depending on what we are observing. The larger the mass of the object, the less influence we have on being able to physically change the object. For example, we can't intend for a horse to become a rabbit or a car to become a boat. However, quantum physics does suggest that to some extent we influence reality with our thoughts. We accomplish this by deciding between the many options that are possible in any moment.

When you focus your intention on a particular outcome, you influence material reality. Your vision has the potential to influence reality. Your vision can create real change that may not seem possible or logical. Being focused and committed to your vision organizes reality according to your desired outcome. Trust that your vision will create your desired future, even though you may not have a rational explanation for why it works.

Vision - Desired Future Results

"Non-locality" is a principle in quantum physics that describes how particles of matter influence each other without being in physical proximity; that is, without physical connection. At the subatomic level, matter does not always act according to our conventional experience. Vision has the same attribute, making "non-local" interconnections that break our paradigm of how reality works. Being an Everyday Visionary is a way to tap into the non-local phenomenon.

We live in a non-local universe characterized by superluminal [faster-than-light] connections between apparently 'separate parts'. This is a reference to John Bell's 1964 theorem, a mathematical proof that describes the strange connection between seemingly unrelated quantum phenomena. Bell's theorem suggests that, at a fundamental level, seemingly separate objects or events are closely and immediately connected. This connection between things is happening so quickly that we cannot always know or understand the connection. We don't have to think of or know all of the things that need to happen to make something go from point A to point B. While these non-local connections are often subtle and difficult to identify, they exist without us knowing how.

In the 1930s, Albert Einstein and other prominent physicists of the twentieth century believed strongly in the principle of locality. They thought that a quantum entity, such as an electron, in one location could not influence another quantum particle in a separate location without an exchange of force or energy. However, experiments by physicists of the time began to reveal exceptions, in which spatially separated parts in a quantum system influenced each other instantaneously. Einstein referred to this idea as "spooky at a distance," and it became known as non-locality.

The following is one of those experiments that demonstrates non-locality. A property of an electron is that if two electrons are paired, and one is observed to spin clockwise, the other will spin in the opposite direction - counterclockwise. Also, the spin of each particle is not determined until an experimenter measures it. In the experiment, the particles are separated. When one of the particles is observed as spinning one way the other particle will spin instantly in the opposite direction. The particle pairs appear to communicate their spin intention, even when they are separated by great distance (one particle in New York and the other in Los Angeles). A connection exists between these particles by non-observable causes over distance. This experiment demonstrates that spatially separated parts in a quantum system can influence each other instantaneously.

The quantum physics phenomenon of non-locality provides evidence for the interconnected nature of reality. When you create a vision, you become aligned with this instantaneous, non-local connection between where you are and where you want to go.

Life and Fate

For thousands of years, science, philosophy, and religion have considered the question, "Do the events in our lives happen because of fate?" Up until the beginning of the twentieth century, most thinkers believed that reality was predictable and deterministic.

This deterministic view was based upon the mathematical theory of Sir Isaac Newton, the philosophy of Rene Descartes, and the scientific method advocated by Francis Bacon. Their contributions, along with the general conception of reality during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, created the framework for classical physics.

Isaac Newton postulated that every particle in the universe reacts and interacts according to the same basic laws. Despite the complexity of how reality appears, he asserted that matter was reducible to fundamental building blocks and that reality operated as a clockwork universe. This view still influences how people today think about their ability to affect the future.

Newton's classical physics offered a way to break the physical world down into parts. Classical physics provided the basis for organizing the physical world into meaningful patterns that provide practical applications for science. It was simple, and it seemed to work.

The quantum physics revolution in the 1920s introduced a different way of understanding reality. Quantum physics asserts that certain things about reality are not determined. Aspects of reality are dynamic and operate organically.

Some facets of reality - including most of the visible world - are best described as having probable outcomes. Quantum physics opened the door to subjectivity, or human influence, on fundamental parts of reality. Quantum physicists have many well-documented scientific experiments demonstrating that we can influence reality at the level of subatomic particles.

A classical physicist might explain reality this way: If you do this ‘thing’, then that ‘thing’ will happen. It's absolute. A classical physicist would try to take anything complex and reduce it to its parts. At the macro (large) level of reality, this is helpful. For example, we can use classical physics to build bridges, cars, or buildings, and go to the moon. Classical physics suggests that at the macro level you can create anything if you can break down the parts that go into it.

On the other hand, a quantum physicist might explain reality this way: "If this ‘thing’ happens, then it is highly probable that that ‘thing’ will happen." At the micro (very small; subatomic) level, reality is more organic and relative. Quantum physics states that not everything is predetermined by its preceding action as Newton suggested. Quantum mechanics views reality as an organic system that is constantly reorganizing itself based upon new input into the system. According to this view, reality is not pre-determined, and you can influence it. Your vision has the power to influence and organize reality into the future that you most desire.

Intentions and the Physical World

"The stream of knowledge is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a machine. Mind no longer appears to be an accidental intruder into the realm of matter ... we ought to rather hail it as the creator and governor of the realm of matter." ~ Sir James Hopwood Jeans

      

Since the 1960s, researchers have conducted many experiments to determine whether a person's unspoken intentions can influence the physical world. These experiments provide scientific data that supports the idea that a person's intention can influence simple random events in a laboratory setting.

Let's examine how our intentions interact directly with the physical world.

An experiment that tests for the influence of intention on the physical world uses a Random Event Generator (REG). This computer, in essence, generates an electronic flip of the coin, producing zeros and ones at random. The REG is a way to do a large number of trials efficiently and objectively. If this binary event generator is used over many control trials, it will produce 50 percent zeros and 50 percent ones.

One standard REG experiment is to ask subjects to press a button on the REG that will produce a significant number of information bits - zeros or ones in this case. Before they press the button, the subjects are asked to intend for the machine to produce either more zeros or more ones.

The accumulated results of these experiments done over time suggest that the machine is influenced by the subject's intention: for example, if a subject intends for the machine to generate more ones, that is what the machine will do. If the person intends the machine to produce more zeros, the machine will turn out more zeros. The increased number of ones or zeros that a subject can intend the REG to produce is small, but significant and not due to chance.

The REG experiments offer compelling scientific evidence that you can influence the physical world with your thoughts. Being visionary is a way to focus your thoughts to influence reality toward what you desire.

Back to Vision

Chaos theory is an area of science that explains the underlying order in seemingly disordered and random systems. "Sensitivity to initial conditions" is a concept within chaos theory that provides support for how and why our vision influences what may seem like a randomly operating reality.

Until the twentieth century, Newton's philosophy of determinism influenced Western thought: If you knew the cause, you would know the effect, and vice versa. At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists began to challenge this deterministic view.

A physicist named Henri Poincare was interested in mathematical equations that described the motion of the planets around the Sun. He found that even the smallest change in the initial formula caused significant changes in the results. The extreme "sensitivity to initial conditions" that Poincare discovered in the systems he was studying became known as "dynamic instability," which led to the term "chaos."

Chaos theory evolved further in the 1960s when a meteorologist named Edward Lorenz found a discrepancy in the results of a software program he wrote for a weather forecasting model. He found that microscopic changes in the initial software formula caused significantly different results in his weather forecasts. This principle became known as the "butterfly effect."

The butterfly effect is another way to represent the concept of sensitivity to initial conditions. This principle suggests that the flap of a butterfly's wings in one part of the world can influence whether or not a storm arises at a later time in another part of the world. The flap of a butterfly's wings causes a small change in the initial conditions of a system that leads to a chain of events, significantly divergent from what the system would have done had that small change not happened.

There are many different systems: the weather, the body of government, the human body, and the whole reality that surrounds us. Chaos theory asserts that small changes introduced into a system can cause dramatic effects in the system.

Imagine getting into your car after a shopping trip. You realize that you have lost your key. Not having the key for the ignition is a small change with a large impact. The car system will not work. You wait for an hour in the rain for a bus, but it never arrives. Later, you find out that the bus ran over a nail and got a flat tire. That small nail made a big difference in the bus schedule. When you finally arrive home, dripping wet and three hours late, you flip on a light switch - and the light does not work. A bolt of lightning hit a pole by your house and knocked out the power. A bolt of lightning is a random event that, in the right place, can wreak havoc with the electrical system. All of these small changes had a dramatic effect on what would normally be certain and predictable results.

These concepts are powerful because they suggest you can influence a seemingly complex system by introducing a small change to the system. One small change can make remarkable and significant changes over time.

You might feel that your life is on a certain and predictable path. This leads you to believe that you can't change this path and create a different life. However, by creating a vision and consciously making it a part of your reality, you make a change to the systems of which you are a part. Your vision is the small change that begins a cascade of effects. You can use your vision to influence the system you are in - your current reality - in your preferred direction.

Back to How do we Influence our Reality?

"Everything in the universe is interconnected. It is like a spider web. If you touch one part of the web, the entire web shimmers. We live in one integrated ecosystem." ~ Matthew Flickstein

      

You are a part of many systems, such as work, family, and your community. Several ideas will be presented here that will help you to be happier and more successful within the systems in which you live.

The term "holistic" has emerged in the vocabulary of many areas of science. In the scientific view, systems consist of elements that are in mutual interaction. Systems theory provides a framework to understand the concept of "wholeness" and the interrelated quality of reality.

Everything is in relationship to everything else - events in the social and physical realms that seem unrelated are in fact connected. As human beings, we are not separate but subtly connected to each other and everything in the world. Vision taps into this web of reality to create the life we want. A vision acts similar to the connection between magnetic north and the magnetized needle in a compass. Vision (like magnetic north) possesses extraordinary attraction to draw energy and resources (the magnetized needle) toward it.

Your vision organizes the complex connections necessary to bring about your desire. A vision increases awareness of the connection between individual parts that you can link together into your desired future. Moreover, a vision does this without your managing or even understanding the complexity that brings about what you desire.

From the systems point of view, we influence and are influenced by reality through a concept referred to as "feedback loops." Creating a vision and referring to it regularly is a feedback loop. When you create a vision that inspires you to take action, your actions have results that give you feedback. You can use this feedback to engage new actions.

We typically refer to feedback as either "negative" or "positive," but positive and negative are labels rather than facts about the feedback itself. If you are not making the progress you want toward your desired vision, evaluate your current situation instead of focusing on feedback as either positive or negative. Become an observer rather than a participant of past and present events. This requires you to step back from the situation and look objectively and freshly at the information that surrounds you. Later, you can input this feedback into your actions by making choices.

It can also be helpful to become an observer when things are working well. This positive feedback gives you information about what actions work. Positive feedback provides encouragement and motivation to continue toward the vision.

The smallest change builds upon itself, moving you closer to the results you want. This is described as: "Whatever movement occurs is amplified, producing more movement in the same direction. A small action snowballs, with more and more and still more of the same, resembling compounding interest." In a reinforcing feedback loop, it is important that you keep in mind your desired future reality so that your efforts continue to compound in the direction of your vision.

While there is movement within a feedback system, there are also delays. A delay is an interruption between actions and results. This is why continually referring to your vision is so important. Your vision is a guiding statement that can keep you on track during the delay between the current and future reality. The vision helps temper you, focusing your thoughts on the long-term, so that you don't over-react or under-react to daily events.

By referring regularly to your vision as a guiding statement, you focus and refocus your efforts toward your priorities. When you remind yourself of your vision, it energizes your efforts. You reaffirm why you started the journey in the first place.

Step back from time to time, and observe your journey. As the observer, you can notice feedback that you can input into your journey toward your vision. Referring to the vision, becoming the observer, and using feedback are ways to maintain your momentum toward your desired outcome.

Feedback Loop

A feedback loop is a cycle of cause and effect relationships. Cause leads to effect, and effect leads to another cause, and so on. Your vision is the starting point of a feedback loop.

There are many examples of feedback loops in our lives. Take the example of a teacher's expectation for students' academic achievement. At the beginning of a term, a teacher may have the expectation (vision) that some students are high achievers and will advance to a greater academic degree than other students. This is the beginning of a feedback loop for those students' academic performance.

Throughout the term, the teacher will consciously or unconsciously refer back to the expectation, "this is a high achiever," when interacting with students. The teacher will initiate actions that may cause students to think and act in ways that reinforce the teacher's original expectation. This will result in more actions by the teacher, causing a feedback loop in the direction of the original expectation. By the end of the term, it is likely that the students who were expected to be high achievers will in fact be more advanced academically than the students whom the teacher did not envision as high achievers.

This example illustrates how an expectation can positively influence the flow of cause and effect events in a feedback loop. Vision sets the flow of actions-results-actions in motion.

Let me narrate a scenario that illustrates the practical uses of feedback loops in overcoming obstacles. Let’s say, we (five friends) are on a backcountry ski trip in the Rocky Mountain National Park. The five of us set out on our adventure, intending to climb a mountain and ski down through fresh, untracked Colorado powder. We also have other, short-term visions for the day: not getting injured or buried in an avalanche, having fun, exercising, and enjoying each other's company in the outdoors.

Our destination is a 10K+ foot mountain that would fulfill our desire for great skiing. We start our journey on a designated trail that meanders through the woods. After about a mile, we consult our map and head off the trail toward the mountain that would provide our downhill turns. After forty minutes of slogging up through the trees, we are not where we wanted to be. We gather to discuss our situation.

When orienteering in the mountains, feedback comes in many forms. We use a map, a compass, an altimeter and our most recent addition, a handheld GPS receiver. These tools give us feedback about our position in the environment. We also share our own feedback from the environment, such as the weather conditions and topography that we experience along the way, as well as our own physical conditions. Combining all this is important to the process of moving toward our desired destination (vision) when traveling in the backcountry.

In this case, our orienteering feedback tools indicate that we are off-course. We are encountering interruptions and delays as we move toward our vision. We express our disappointment and are concerned about putting in extra energy and fear we might even be lost.

We then exchange feedback with each other. We decide to change our route but continue toward our original destination. We recommit to our vision of reaching the top of the mountain and skiing down it. We continue to get feedback from our new route and remain on course. This feedback reinforces our confidence in our orienteering skills and use of equipment, and motivates us to keep moving toward our vision.

By revisiting the original vision and taking in feedback from the environment and ourselves, we neither under-react nor over-react to such obstacles as getting off course. We are able to adjust our route, refocus our energies, and take action toward our desired outcome.

We reach the summit of the mountain sooner than we have anticipated. We feel exuberant to have overcome obstacles along the way and to have reached our goal. Had we not revisited our vision and used the feedback from the environment and ourselves along the way, we might have really gotten lost and put ourselves in danger - and we might not have reached our exhilarating goal.

As an Everyday Visionary, you will always encounter obstacles and delays as you move toward your short or long-term vision. Observing feedback, inputting new information into your actions and connecting to your vision will help you flow with setbacks, instead of feeling stuck or frustrated, as you move toward your desired outcome. These are important tools that will help bring your dreams to life.

Ways to overcome obstacles on your journey:

·        Quantum physics supports the notion that reality is not fixed or determined, but operates based upon potentials and relationships that we can influence.

·        Sensitivity to initial conditions, a concept within the Chaos theory, supports the idea that a small change to a system, like your vision, can make remarkable and significant changes over time.

·        Systems theory points out the interconnection that exists between you and everything that surrounds you. Your vision is a tool to make you aware of the connections that are most important to bring you what you desire.

Conclusions

This is the last article of series but, I cannot say for sure that I am not going to add more articles as there is always a possibility that something could turn up in my research in future.

It’s been an incredible journey these past few months while putting these articles together. The reader’s response is overwhelming which provided the much needed impetus to successfully completing the project. I had originally intended to write about 14 or 15 articles with the research material that I had gathered but, the interactions with colleagues and audiences resulted in expanding the scope of the topic and eventually ended up with 22 articles so far.

I would like to extend my gratitude to numerous friends and interesting suggestions from a number of readers that has helped me not only in maintaining my desire to complete the project but also producing a scholarly work that business leaders may want to practice the concepts presented in here.

As part of concluding this series, I would like to share an ancient Chinese story about a rainmaker who was hired to bring rain to a parched part of China. The rainmaker came in a covered cart, a small, wizened, old man who sniffed the air with obvious disgust as he got out of his cart, and asked to be left alone in a cottage outside the village; even his meals were to be left outside the door.

Nothing was heard from him for three days, then it not only rained, but there was also a big downfall of snow, unknown at that time of the year. Very much impressed, the villagers sought him out and asked him how he could make it rain, and even snow. The rainmaker replied, “I have not made the rain or the snow; I am not responsible for it.” The villagers insisted that they had been in the midst of a terrible drought until he came, and then after three days, they even had quantities of snow.

“Oh, I can explain that. You see, the rain and snow were always here. But as soon as I got here, I saw that your minds were out of order and that you had forgotten how to see. So I remained here until you could once again see what was always there right before your eyes.”

It is my hope that the ideas and strategies presented in these articles will show you how to look for different ways to think about your problems. When you do that, you will rethink the way you see things and, you, like the Chinese villagers, will see what is right before your eyes.

Enjoy your connections!

Namaste!

Quantum Physics of Belief - Inter-connectedness

For the past few months, I was writing about quantum physics and business research to explore the correlation between the science of consciousness and patterns in the business world, to suggest innovative ways of using this wisdom to lead and succeed in a business environment that is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. I am discovering that in some way we all share a fundamental connection. There is evidence that our brains share a connection and we are even drawing from the same memory/source.

What is it that makes our lives worth living? What brings us joy and fulfillment? What gets us up in the morning? No, it’s not the amount of “stuff” we have. I believe it is the connections we make in our lives that give us a zest for living. Connections with family (love), connections with friends (community), connections with ideas (lifelong learning), connections with meaning (spirituality), connections with work (ideas and new skills), connections through service (volunteerism), connections with nature (interdependence) — these are some of the ways connections serve us.

Connections represent the interfaces between us and the rest of the world. Connections take us outside of ourselves, help us to learn and to grow, and ultimately help us to see the meaning and purpose of our lives. The alternative to nurturing the connections in our lives is to be isolated and self-absorbed, conditions that may lead to loneliness, depression, suffering and premature death.

Can you imagine a world without human connections? Humans are some of the most social animals there are on earth. Very few of us could live happily without our human connections.  Think of the worst punishment that prison inmates typically suffer—solitary confinement. Only a few days of solitary confinement can be very disturbing. Consider a monk in an extended silent retreat. Most of us can’t imagine participating in such a retreat ourselves, and correctly attribute great mental discipline to the monk. And yet, some of us, especially as we grow older, allow ourselves to live in increasing isolation as our friends and families either move away or die. To prevent this isolation, we may need consciously to seek to maintain our connections with family members, even if they live at a distance. Further, it will enhance our lives if we continue to make new friends, including persons who are younger than we.

It’s not always easy to make new friends, especially for those of us who tend to be shy. Often, creating friendships around shared interests is a way to facilitate this. Community associations, dance groups, hiking groups, book clubs, bridge groups, tennis or golf associations, volunteer work and political action are only a few of the possibilities for meaningful interactions that can lead to friendship.

Some of the most important connections we make are with our four-legged friends. Dogs and cats (and many other furry, feathered and finned friends) can be invaluable sources of love, joy and companionship, especially if we do not or cannot access human friends. Specially-trained dogs create much joy for persons in nursing homes and hospitals, and research has shown that we who have pets live longer (and happier) than those without.

Connections may not only affect our outer lives, but may be important parts of our inner lives as well. For many of us, our sense of connection with a higher power brings feelings of hope, meaning, love and comfort. This feeling of connection with a higher power may be based on a knowing; on prayer; on study; or on some other practice or activity that brings us regularly into contact with that higher power. Some of us may make connections in a dream, a meditative state or other altered state of consciousness with a wisdom figure. This might be a shaman, a priestess, a crone, an energy field, a bear, an eagle, or some other entity. These wisdom figures can sometimes help us to gain insight into perplexing issues.

It is clear that our human race must live in the future if we are to survive—by sharing energy and leadership between man and woman, and by using a partnership of the best characteristics of each to lead us forward.

Not all connections are with people or other sentient beings. What about our connections with ideas? Not long ago, it was believed that we largely lost our ability to learn later in life, and that our mental capabilities inevitably went downhill as we aged. However, it is now understood that, in the absence of medical conditions such as stroke or Alzheimer’s, we can be life-long learners. We thrive on new ideas and new learning.

Learning becomes, if anything, even more exciting as we grow older and gain in wisdom. So the connections we make through reading, through viewing documentaries, through discussions, and through taking (or giving) classes and workshops can provide excitement and new understanding throughout our lives. I find this time of my life the most exciting yet. This is true to a considerable degree because I am enjoying so much the learning, the teaching and the creation of learning environments I am doing now.

Of course, for a good share of our lives, our careers provide important connections for us—connections with others we work with and connections with the ideas and skills that relate to our work. Here, I include homemaking and parenting in the category of career. Many of us spend more hours at our career than at any other activity in our lives. For this reason, leaving the work world or facing an empty nest can be traumatic, as we leave many of our connections behind. It is thus important not to leave our primary career without having established some other interests that are exciting to us. I left my career as a scientist nearly 15 years ago, because I was ready for a new challenge and for new learning opportunities. That was the right decision and the right time for me, but each person must weigh his/her own situation before making this decision.

Yet another form of connection is found through serving others. Volunteer opportunities of all kinds are available, and the volunteer work done by elders is indispensable to countless organizations. Being a volunteer can bring a great sense of fulfillment if you feel that your work has impact. You create connections with causes as well as with people, both those served and those with whom you work.

Another connection that impacts many people is that with nature. We humans are as much a part of nature as any other animal, and our connections with the earth and its myriad inhabitants are profound. We see the beauty and glory of the world and the natural order of things and we feel joy and give thanks. For many of us, this is an important spiritual connection. Then as we look at the major destructive impact that our human activities are having on this world, we may feel sadness and perhaps guilt. This may lead us to work to heal some of the wounds to our world, through social change and social activism, another form of connection with a cause.

Our beliefs can manipulate our response to the environment, and our response to the environment is one of the most important factors of our well-being. We are all interconnected to everything and everyone and can thus influence and be influenced, perhaps in ways we have not yet grasped scientifically. A living body is just a manifestation of energy in a particular form, but is not necessarily the seat of consciousness or soul itself. At the heart of quantum mechanics and cellular biology, some people see incontrovertible evidence of God and some form of life after death.

These connections give us an opportunity to reach out beyond ourselves, and to invite new experiences, new learning and new understanding. Connections will give us joy and a reason for living. They will help to keep us engaged, vital and alive.

When we realize the extent of the myriad interconnections which link us to all other life, we realize that our existence only becomes meaningful through interaction with, and in relation to, others. On a deeper level, we are connected and related not just to those physically close to us, but to every living being. If we can realize this, feelings of loneliness and isolation, which cause so much suffering, begin to vanish, as we realize that we are part of a dynamic, mutually interconnected whole.

I can’t articulate how this works, and believe me when I say I have scoured the scientific publications for a viable theory. I can only report that this unexplained connectivity does exist because I have seen the evidence from so many credible sources.

This research leads me to conclude that in some way, at some level, we are all one. Consider the following experiments, which were performed using strict scientific method and documented in credible publications.

This first experiment demonstrates unexplained connectivity between human brains. Two people meet and interact for about 30 to 40 minutes, until they feel a rapport. They then each enter separate Faraday cages, which are metallic enclosures that block all electromagnetic signals. Each person is connected to an electroencephalograph (EEG), which records the electrical activity in the brain. They are directed to concentrate on their bond with the other person. One of the people is then shown a flickering light signal that evokes an electrophysiological response measured by the EEG. The person not being shown the light is not aware that the other person is being shown the light.

As long as the two people are still maintaining their focus on their bond, the brain of the person not being shown the light also registers an electromagnetic signal via the EEG. The electromagnetic signal is similar in shape and intensity to the signal registered by the person shown the light. The person not being shown the light is not consciously aware of seeing a light or of any other sensation, which means that the connectivity is not occurring consciously. Control subjects do not register a signal.

In another experiment, a researcher connects a common house plant to a polygraph, or lie detector machine. In normal circumstances the plant registers no activity on the machine. But when the researcher has the thought… I repeat thought… that he is going to burn one of the leaves; the plant displays what would be considered an enormous, panicked reaction on the polygraph. The plant is aware of his threatening thoughts!

Several experiments provide compelling evidence that we are all drawing upon and contributing to the same memory bank. These experiments show that once a large group of people have learned something, it’s then easier for other people to learn that same thing. For example, experimenters found that when they showed a set of Hebrew-like words, some real and some made to look like Hebrew, to people who didn’t know any Hebrew, they were able to pick out the words that were real at a rate of two to one. This suggests that the people who didn’t know Hebrew had some connection to the memory of those that did and therefore were able to identify the real words.

In another experiment, a psychologist performed a similar test with Morse code. He constructed a new version of Morse code by assigning different dots and dashes to each letter of the alphabet. He assembled a group of participants that didn’t know any Morse code, and tested their ability to learn the made-up Morse code as compared to their ability to learn the real Morse code. The participants were able to learn the real Morse code significantly more accurately, showing that the participants were drawing upon the memory of those who know Morse code.

Further evidence is provided by trending the results of IQ tests. Average IQ test scores in over twenty countries have been rising over the decades during which time the tests have been given to millions of people. This trend has not been noticed because IQ test results are typically compared only to others who have taken the test at the same time and at the same age, as the average IQ test score is always set to 100% by definition. Researchers only noticed this trend when they compared base test scores over time.

Researchers have tried to determine the reason that IQ test scores would be getting better, but they cannot attribute it to any other reason such as better education or practice taking the tests. They have concluded that the tests are getting easier to do because the millions of people who have already done them are contributing that experience to a connected human memory.

These experiments corroborate what I have felt about my connection to others: what I do for other people ends up happening to me. For example, I have noticed that when I give money away, I end up making more money. These types of things have happened so often that the correlation has felt too strong to just write off as a coincidence, so I began to do some research. I am concluding that in some way, we are one, and in a very real sense, what we do for others we do for ourselves. I know many of us have heard this in Sunday school, but now scientific experimentation is telling us it’s true. I don’t know about you, but I am finding it more difficult to dismiss.

Quantum physics tells us that even without touching each other, everything is interconnected - every cell and every atom is all just waving energy of the same nothingness, and the waves all interact with each other to varying degrees. What happens in one part of your body can affect another part in unexpected ways, and what happens to you can affect someone else, and so on. We all are essentially part of the same energy, and our energy is not confined to our bodies. If a person can influence that energy, (s)he can influence his/her biology.

From a spiritual point of view (and even quantum physics confirms this); everything is part of the divine energy; connected to the unseen by simply identifying what is behind the result or action of the form. The drama or recurrent theme signifies to us what needs to shift in the energetic world. Living these human experiences we connect to what our ancestors had passed on generations and their legacy of lifetimes. Our DNA is our link to what our heritage is and bringing this into the present moment we create the transition of this human evolution of consciousness reconnecting ourselves to the divinity and integrating our energetic fields to all that is and aligning every space to anchor this into our mother earth. We connect to this inter-dimensional communication and intelligence of this vast universe every time that we are aware and awake to our source. Our expressive souls long to connect to our world within and become conscious soul with focused intention of peace and love.

Quantum Physics of Belief - Motivations

For the past few months, I was writing about quantum physics and business research to explore the correlation between the science of consciousness and patterns in the business world, to suggest innovative ways of using this wisdom to lead and succeed in a business environment that is constantly evolving at a rapid pace.  Once we reach a greater understanding of how the thought energy in an organization, in addition to actions, is influencing our results, many of our focuses will change. Today, we place a huge emphasis on monitoring how employees perform, as far as the actions they take, but we place very little emphasis on understanding the thoughts behind their actions. Today we only care that an employee is motivated to perform, but in the future we will care about why an employee is motivated to perform, because this will determine the target of their intentions.

When employees are motivated to perform because they intend that the company is successful, rather than because they desire self-preservation or self-promotion, our businesses will be more successful. This is because the energy of their intentions has an impact on business outcomes (see earlier article on Intentions.)

It has been proven scientifically thru experimentation, when groups of people intend that a particular outcome is achieved, the intentions themselves have an impact on events, so that the outcome is more likely to occur in the direction of the intentions. An intention is a conscious desire for a particular outcome. See my earlier article for a premise on how thought energy leads to business success.

It is not a foregone conclusion that employees of a business have a conscious desire, or intention for the business to succeed. I remember one time I was talking to a prospective client who has never worked for a company. I was talking enthusiastically about the importance of employees’ intentions for the success of a business, and he looked at me with a quizzical expression and said “Why do you think this is such a revelation? All employees intend for their company to be successful.” Those were definitely words of a person who was never employed in the corporate world. Based on my experience, it’s not a stretch to say that most employees in corporations don’t have high levels of intentionality for the success of the company, but rather their intentionality is focused on their own success.

So the question for leaders and managers to ask is “Are employees striving to do a good job because of self-preservation/promotion, or do they care about the success of the overall organization?” The answer to this reveals the object of their intentions.

Here are some reasons why the object of most employees’ intentions is their personal success. Typically, we have caused this by the way we run our multinational businesses.

First, most employees see that winning requires they look better than their fellow employees. That’s how they get promotions and raises that are larger than their co-workers, and that’s how they protect their job security. It follows that their personal success is more important than the success of the overall company and is therefore the object of their intentions.

Secondly, employees will focus their intentions on the realm that is top of mind. They naturally have an active awareness of the success of their particular job function or the project they are working on, but most don’t have an active awareness of the overall success of the company. I like what I have read about how Herb Kelleher kept the employees of Southwest Airlines connected to the affairs of the overall business, by emotionally engaging them in the issues and the company’s strategy for tackling them. This helped focus their intentions on overall business success, but most companies are not nearly as adept at this.

Finally, employees will focus their intentions on the realm where they believe they can influence success. This means they’ll focus their intentions on the realm that they control, which is their personal success or the success of teams of which they are a part of. Most companies aren’t proficient at showing employees how they personally contribute to the bottom line.

The traditional method that leaders use to get employees to be invested in the success of the overall business is to tie the wealth of employees to the wealth of the business through profit sharing bonuses or stock ownership plans. I won’t say that these methods are ineffective, but I will say they are of limited value as long as employees are more motivated to achieve personal success.

Most employees have a high level of intentionality for their own success but not for the success of the entire company. Even employees who are highly engaged and excellent performers will likely intend for their personal success to a far greater degree than the success of their overall company. Causing employees to have strong intentions for overall business success is multi-faceted and the subject of other articles, but we can start with simply paying attention to the current source of motivation.

Law of Unfulfilled Potential

One can see aspects of this law working in such areas like, for instance, in neurophysiology, humans use only a fraction of their brains' capabilities; in technology, superconductivity is not yet widely available; and in medicine, the harnessing of the body's abilities to fight cancers is only just beginning to be understood and realized.

But the Law of Unfulfilled Potential is particularly dominant in the business world - and especially in operations. Operations is the blocking and tackling of any organization, the fundamentals that create the foundation for consistent success.

It's such an important function that in many companies the Chief Operating Officer is usually the next in line for the job of CEO. If a company is not doing operations well, all of its other functions are diminished.

Having worked with operations leaders in a variety of top companies for over two decades, I have seen that many are unfortunately strict adherents to the Law of Unfulfilled Potential - for one main reason: They have neglected an all-important results-driver, motivation.

Clearly, many factors further operational excellence: capital, cycle time, technological advancements, quality, efficiencies, etc. But motivation is the most fundamental, operational determinant of all, for it drives all the others.

After all, operations is the sum of people doing many jobs; and when skilled people are motivated to accomplish those jobs, great results happen.

But many operations perceive motivation as "soft" - as opposed to the "hard" factors of cycle time, quality control, etc. - and so either ignore it or struggle with actualizing it on a daily basis.

I see motivation, however, as a "hard" determinant of operations that can be a concrete, a practical results-producer.

I am going to provide four imperatives that you can use right away to achieve consistent increases in operational results. But before I do, I'll offer a working description of motivation. Leaders often fail to motivate others because these leaders misunderstand the concept of motivation.

The best way for me to describe it is to describe what it is not.

Motivation is not what people think or feel. It's what people do. Look at the first two letters of the word, "mo." When you see those letters in a word, such as "motor", "motion", "momentum", "mobile", etc., it usually means action of some kind. Look at motivation as action too. If people are not taking action, they are in point of fact not motivated.

Motivation is not something we can do to somebody else. It is always something that that someone else does to themselves. Look back over your career, and you will see that the motivator and the "motivatee" were always the same person. As a leader, you communicate, and provide an environment for your members to thrive but the people whom you want to motivate must motivate themselves.

Motivation is not a dispassionate dynamic. It is an "emotional" dynamic. The words "motivation" and "emotion" come from the same Latin root word, which means "to move." When we want to move (motivate) people to take action, or in truth have them motivate themselves, we engage their emotions. Put another way: People will not take action for more results faster continually unless their emotions are engaged.

Finally, the best way to enter into a motivational relationship with people is not by distant communication but the kind of face-to-face talk that has people make the choice to be committed to your cause. It is called the ‘leadership talk’.

Those are descriptions of what motivation truly is. But descriptions alone won't help you meet the challenges of Unfulfilled Potential. You must follow clear imperatives to help you transform descriptions into results.

Here are four that will help you cultivate motivational operations.

1. Give leadership talks not presentations. The difference between a presentation and a leadership talk is what Mark Twain said the difference between the almost right word and the right word is. "That is the difference," he said, "between the lightning bug and lightning."

Let's understand the basic difference between the presentation and the leadership talk.

Presentations communicate information; but leadership talks have people believe in you, follow you, and, most important of all, want to take leadership for your cause. (The best example of such a talk is the one given by George Washington in 1783 to his field commanders who were on the verge of a revolt in the history of American Revolution.)

My experience has taught me that 95% of all communication in business is accomplished through the presentations. However, if 95% of communication were accomplished through the leadership talk instead, leaders would be far more effective in getting results.

So, before you speak to people from now on, and by the way, leaders speak 15 to 20 and more times a day, ask yourself if you are simply providing information or are you motivating those people to motivate themselves to take action for results.

2. Create motivational systems. Most operational leaders are good at systemizing quality initiatives, cycle time, efficiencies, etc. But few understand that some of the most important systems they can put into place are systems that help people make the choice for motivation.

A particularly effective motivational system is one that saturates operations with "cause leaders."

Unquestionably, people accomplish a task better if they are not simply doing it but taking leadership of it. When we are challenged to take leadership, we raise our performance to much higher levels. With that in mind, create systems that identify cause leaders, challenge them to take specific leadership action, and support those actions through systematized training and resource allocations.

3. See results not as an end but as a motivational process. Clearly, you have to get results. But many operations leaders misunderstand what results are about. I teach leaders the concept of achieving "more results faster continually" - not by speeding up but by slowing down and working less, by putting the motivational imperatives into practice. Leaders understand the "more results faster" aspect - but they often stumble when it comes to the "continual achievement" aspect.

We can usually order people to get more results faster. But we can't order people to do it on a continual basis. That's where motivation comes in. Instead of ordering people to go from point A to point B, say, we must have them want to go from A to B. That ‘want to’ is the heart of ‘continually.’

When we understand results this way, understand that we must achieve "more, faster" on a continual basis, then we begin to make motivational operations a way of life.

4. Challenge people to be motivational leaders. The imperatives are powerful when you use them consistently. But they are even more powerful when you have your leaders use them and teach others to use them. After all, you alone can't create motivational operations. You need others to help you do it, especially those mid-level and small-unit leaders. If they are not putting the imperatives into practice every day, your attempts to raise the standards of operations to a consistently high motivational level will falter.

Define the success of your leadership by how well your leaders are leading, and you are well on your way to making motivational operations a reality.

Once you begin to institute motivational operations by applying the four imperatives, the Law of Unfulfilled Potential becomes your competitor's worry, not yours.

Quantum Physics of Belief - Intention

For the past few months, I was writing about quantum physics and business research to using this wisdom to lead and succeed in a business environment that is constantly evolving at a rapid pace.

In the last century, physicists made incredible strides in determining the laws that govern our universe. One of these is Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, which states that we cannot observe something without changing what we are observing. According to Heisenberg, there is no such thing as an independent observer, who can sit on the sidelines watching nature run its course, without influencing it. And since we are part of that nature, the same is true for us in our lives.

Observation and intention are intimately related. In quantum physics, how we observe a particle in a subatomic system determines what it becomes. In the same sense, within a much larger system such as our lives, the way we observe ourselves and our environment determines what becomes of both of these.

What might surprise you is the fact that you are already using intention, unawares as you might be, to manifest whatever your current situation in life is. Whether you are fit or overweight, rich or poor, have a job that you love or hate, in a healthy relationship or not, is determined by your use of intention. “Yeah, but I don’t believe in that!” you might say. Well it’s the same as gravity – whether you believe in it or not, you are still affected.

I personally believe in a God, an all-knowing, all-loving God who has no other desire than for the well-being and happiness of His children. By using the power of intention I am co-creating my life with the Creator. Now this is not exclusive to only me or Hindus for that matter. Whether you are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Agnostic or Atheist (even atheists have a relationship with God by not believing that God exists) – this law applies to all. It is no discerner of people, because like gravity it is a law that affects everyone, again whether you believe in it or not.

The sooner you understand this, the sooner you can use this to produce positive change in your life. So, the question then is how do we make our Intentions manifest?

There exists 3 pillars, each one building upon and enhancing the next, which must be present for your intention to manifest. However, like a tripod, if you were to remove one of these, then it becomes unstable and intention loses its power. These 3 things are your desires, your thoughts, and your focus.

Your desires and thoughts are fairly self explanatory, but I’d like to explain what I mean by focus. Focus has less to do with determination and more to do with observation. What we tend to focus on in our observations of ourselves and life is what I am getting at here. It also represents looking out for opportunities that our intention sends to us.

There are a lot of people who misunderstand intention and simply think that, because they put the thought out there, it will manifest. However, if there is one thing that I wish you will take from this (and I speak from experience), it is this: When your thoughts, desires, and focus are in harmony, then, and only then, will intention have the power to work miracles in your life. Not beforehand.

If you desire to be thin but your thoughts and focus are on how overweight you are, then your intention to change has no power. If you quickly think how nice it would be to be wealthy, but you are focusing on what you are lacking, again there will be no power for change.

It’s when you,

• Awaken within yourself the desire for wealth (or health)
• Align your thoughts with that desire by seeing yourself as wealthy (or healthy) and
• Focus on the opportunities that present themselves to create that wealth (or health)

then only will you manifest it in your life.

This shows that there is a passive as well as active part to intention. Once you have declared your intention and have aligned your thoughts with that desire (active), Providence will at this point take over and send you ways to manifest it (passive). It is here that you need to be on the lookout and act upon those things that come to you – which help you manifest your intention (again active). This is the meaning of co-creation.

Thoughts are things. Thoughts have energy and the power to change your world. When you focus your thoughts like a laser beam upon what you want to create in your life, you unleash the incredible power of your mind combined with the infinite creative power of the Universe. This is how goals are achieved and dreams come true.

Focusing your thought on what you want to create is called intention. It is defined as “the projection of awareness, with purpose and efficacy, toward some object or outcome.” Intention is a powerful force that you can use to guide and direct your life. People have been using the power of intention for thousands of years to change their lives. Scientists are beginning to accumulate empirical evidence that supports the idea that intention has the power to change your body, other people, and the world around you.

From Muhammad Ali to Tiger Woods, successful athletes have been using the power of intention for years to improve their performance. Studies have shown that intention produces the same reaction in the brain as action. In other words, if you mentally rehearse speed walking, your brain will send signals to the muscles involved in speed walking – just like it would if you were really speed walking! In fact, studies have shown that people can actually increase the strength of their muscles by simply imagining that they are working out.

Intention not only influences your performance, but it can also influence your health. There is a plethora of evidence that indicates that intention can change heart rate, blood pressure, immune function, pain level, blood loss during surgery, and many other body functions. In addition, there is a growing body of evidence to support the idea that other people’s intentions can influence your body and your health.

Researchers have been investigating the influence of intention on one’s environment. Some of the most compelling evidence has come from The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) laboratory at Princeton University. The scientists at PEAR have run millions of trials and the results indicate that people can influence the output of machines known as random-event generators (REGs). REGs are essentially a computerized version of the coin toss (output is 50% “heads” and 50% “tails”). The results from PEAR and other labs show that subjects can influence these REG machines to produce output slanted in the intended direction. Their thoughts are influencing the function and output of the machines!

Another example of intention affecting the environment comes from the studies of the Maharishi Effect. The Maharishi Effect suggests that if 1 percent of a particular area practices Transcendental Meditation (TM), the rate of crime, drug abuse, and traffic accidents will decline. Studies are confirming the Maharishi Effect and have shown that communities with the requisite number of Transcendental Meditators (1% of population) have a 22-24% reduction in the crime rate.

The bottom line is that intention is a powerful force that can be used to influence your health, your performance, and the world around you. Start by setting your intention for simple things that don’t mean a lot to you (like parking spaces). Practicing in these simple ways is easier because you are not so attached to the outcome. The more attached you are to the outcome; the harder it is to use intention successfully. Fortunately, research has shown that there are certain ways to increase your ability to use intention successfully.

The following 8 steps will help you tap into the power of intention to begin to create the life you want.

1. Create a Sacred Space – Creating a sacred space helps to boost the power of your intention. Research shows that when a particular place is used repeatedly for intention exercises, the intentions begin to “condition” the place. The space begins to hold a “positive energy” and gives a boost to your intentions. You can create a sacred space in a room in your house, a corner of a room, or even a space in your mind’s eye. The important part is to use this space regularly. Fill your sacred space with meaningful items (memorabilia from a vacation, photos, religious items, etc), candles, and music. Remember it is a special place for you, so use your imagination and create it in a way that feels good to you.

2. Create your Intention – When you create your intentions it is important to follow some simple guidelines to create the best results. This is similar to practicing positive affirmations. You want to state your intention in a positive way, stating what you want and using the present tense. For example, rather than saying “I will stop eating sweet foods,” you would say, “I choose healthy foods that nourish my body.” The problem with the first example is that in order to think about stopping the sweet treats, you must first think about the sweets. In other words, you keep your mind focused on the very thing you want to stop. In the second example, your mind will be focused on healthy foods and this will lead to success.

3. Meditate or Get Centered - Centering is the practice of quieting the mind and relaxing the body to create a sense of peace and acceptance. It is a process of clearing away the mental clutter so that you can access your own inner resources and power. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is a simple way to get centered. Place one hand on your chest and one on your abdomen and breathe naturally. Notice which hand moves more as you breathe. It is likely that the hand on your chest moves up and down more than the one on your abdomen. This indicates shallow chest breathing. It is easy to retrain your body to breathe deeply. Imagine a balloon in your stomach. As you inhale, imagine filling this balloon up with air – your abdomen will raise. Then imagine letting the air out of this balloon as you exhale – your abdomen will fall. Try breathing in this deep way for several minutes at a time. Research has shown that breathing in this manner will produce the relaxation response. This will also help to focus and quiet your mind. As you are centering, you will likely find that your mind wanders occasionally. That is perfectly natural. Simply bring your awareness gently back to the quiet peaceful feeling.

4. Field of infinite possibilities – Once you are centered; bring your intention into your awareness. Imagine placing this intention in the field of infinite possibilities – also known as God, the Universe, Allah, Spirit, etc. This field of infinite possibilities is the source of creative forces. It is where life begins and ends. It is the source of mystery, magic, and miracles.

5. Visualization or Mental Rehearsal – Mental rehearsal is a powerful tool to tap into the power of intention. This process requires you to engage all of your senses to create a vivid experience in your mind’s eye. Imagine yourself already having what you want to create. Mental rehearsal brings together the power of your mind with the creative power of the Universe to help you achieve your goals.

6. Banish Doubt– Once you have put forth your intention into the field of infinite possibilities, it is important to shift into a state of detached trusting. This means that you banish all doubt about whether or not you will be able to create your goals. Trust that you will know the right steps to take and be led to the right people and opportunities to help you create this dream. Trust that the field of infinite possibilities has unlimited organizing and creative power. Trust the power of intention.

7. Detach from the Outcome – This is the essence of Bhagavad Geetha. You must detach from the outcome and let go of the need to control the process. It will unfold in the right time and in the perfect way. When you plant seeds in your garden, you take the appropriate actions to give your seeds the best chance to grow (watering, appropriate lighting, etc). Then you must allow them to grow in their own timing. You can’t pull the little baby sprouts up to make them grow faster – nor can you rush an intention. It will unfold in its own time and in its own perfect way.

8. Present Moment Focus – Even though you are working on changing your future, it is important to keep your attention in the present moment. In other words, your intention is in the future and your attention is in the present. It is important to accept and appreciate your current life circumstances. Developing this attitude of gratitude will help you connect with the field of infinite possibilities and increase the power of your intention.

These 8 steps will help you use the power of intention to create the life you want. Start with some simple and easy things and then work your way up to bigger more challenging desires. As you practice using intention, be willing to see coincidences as meaningful occurrences. It is important to be open and ready for opportunities and possibilities. Let your actions be guided by your intuition and hunches. Mastering the power of intention while detaching from the outcome is the key to creating greater health, happiness, and success in your life. This is what Karma Yoga is is all about as explained in the Bhagavad Geetha.

Remember that your thoughts have great power and can change your world!

To close, I want to stress the importance of gratitude in all this. As you work with intention to manifest those things that you desire, be sure to be thankful. Whether you believe in God or not, wherever the source of your intention comes from, be sure to express gratitude. There is a definite link between gratitude and abundance. If you want more abundance in your life, be more grateful.

Quantum Physics of Belief – Fear Based Decision Making

Since the beginning of the year, I was writing about quantum physics and business research to explore the correlation between the science of consciousness and patterns in the business world, to suggest innovative ways of using this wisdom to lead and succeed in a business environment that is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. Once we reach a greater understanding of how we are actualizing the world, we’ll do a lot of things differently. One of the big ones will be controlling how we let information from the external world influences our emotions.

[BTW, did you listen to my radio talk on Quantum Physics of Belief – Emotions couple of weeks ago? It was a huge success and attracted a lot of listeners preferring to download the show. If you haven’t already, please access the archive at #BlogTalkRadio and we are going to refer to some of the concepts that I discussed in that presentation.]

In our conventional way of looking at the world, we would say that reading news is simply getting ourselves informed about what is happening or likely to happen. Most people still believe what is happening out there in the world is largely out of our control and happening to us. They see the news as a source to tell them what could potentially hit next. Based on what we are now learning about our beliefs and emotions playing an active role in creating our world, we can no longer hold such a view.

Physics research presents undeniable evidence that we are actualizing our world, not just through our actions, but also directly through our thoughts and emotions. From the previous articles in this Quantum Physics of Belief series we know that conditions in the physical world are being directly influenced by the contents of our beliefs and emotions. We have plenty of evidence showing that events and conditions in the external world will conform to our beliefs, with the beliefs coming first, followed by the experience.

We also see the impact of group energy, or consciousness, on the creation of experience in the realm of business. Business research shows that organizations manifest experiences consistent with their belief systems. One example is that belief in abundance, as demonstrated by win-win negotiation tactics, results in higher profitability. Even in a conventional manner of looking at the economy, we know that the level of fear in a society largely determines its future economic conditions.

Once we accept the research and acknowledge the cause effect relationship, we can clearly see the detrimental impact of fear. Fear influences our beliefs and emotions, which in turn negatively influence conditions in the external world. In other words, our personal fear is contributing to unfavorable conditions in the external world. Refusing to feel the fear is not denying the conditions in the world, but rather it is choosing to change them.

Once we realize that belief and emotions precede, or cause, experience, the solution is easier to see. We will simply choose not to subject ourselves to the influx of fear. We may see a headline that conjures up fear, but we’ll quickly move on to another article or change the channel. We’ll know that nothing constructive is achieved by exposing ourselves to fear.

It’s interesting to note that once we walk away from the fear in our news sources, the content of the news will change. Reporters only report on what people will read, so when fear is no longer attractive, they’ll move on. Let’s help them move on sooner.

Fear is one of the most basic of human instincts. It is fear that allowed humanoids to survive during primitive times, and it is still the basis of survival today. Without fear, you would not take the time to look both ways before crossing the street. However, too much constraining fear in the organizational context can produce a gridlock of activities among the people that prevent the establishment of trust.

The absence of unnecessary fear is a huge benefit for any organization. Some fear is good for the self preservation of individuals and organizations, but keeping it at the lowest possible level is liberating and will bring out the best in people.

On a personal level; Fear based decisions can be anything – some of them are big ones, some of them are not as big, sometimes we don’t even realize we make them.

I lived a life based on fear for a long time. I still probably do sometimes, but I have committed to reduce the amount of my fear based decisions to an absolute minimum.

Can I stop doing it altogether? Yes, it is possible. Is it hard? Maybe not, all I have to do is just decide, right? Does it take lots of courage and trust? Absolutely!

Here are some of the things that I did in the last few years to eliminate fear based decisions from my life. I stopped working on a business that had big potential, but wasn’t really aligned with my purpose.

It was tough because I did enjoy that business so I couldn’t say that I was staying in it completely out of fear. But after thinking about it for a while I realized that it was not my purpose and it wasn’t something I saw myself doing and enjoying long term. So I had to let it go. That decision took lots of courage and trust because it also cut down a large part of my income but I don’t regret.

I let go of relationships that were no longer based on love and just drained my energy. I let go of fear to play small and now dream as big as I feel like dreaming. I let go of the need to please certain people.

So, how do we stop making decisions predominantly based on fear? How do you reduce the amount of fear based decisions in your life as much as possible?

1. Find your “Whys”. Why do you want to stop making decision based on fear? Even if they are small ones. Even if you hardly notice doing it. Why do you want to stop? What are your “whys”?

Most likely one of your “whys” is a desire to live a more authentic life. Or maybe a desire to spread the vibe of love and acceptance? Or maybe your “why” is your desire to have that inner knowing that you are being true to yourself?

What are your “whys”?

2. Make unconscious conscious. It is proven that up to 95% of our daily activity is based on the subconscious programming we have downloaded from the past. Most of the decisions we make on a daily basis, we don’t even question. We make them based on that programming.

The result? Lots of fear without us even realizing we have it.

How do you stop living on autopilot? Become Self Aware. Learn being fully present in every moment. Then you’ll be able to consciously make a choice and notice yourself making fear based decision right away.

3. Love and accept yourself.  Only with true love and acceptance can you let go of the part of you that is overtaken by fear.

Accept yourself with all of your imperfection. Accept your worries, doubts. Accept the fact that you were making those fear based decisions.

Accept even the fact that you might continue making them no matter how hard you try to stop. It may sound counterintuitive when I said that, but, trust me, what you resist, persists. Instead of fighting the defeatist behavior, try accepting and face the facts.

4. Find your True Self; find your purpose and passions. Too often we live our lives based on the limitations and standards others imposed on us.

What do you truly want in life? What is your purpose? What are your passions? Amazingly, once we discover our purpose and what we truly are passionate about, making love based decisions and letting go of those that are based on fear becomes so much easier.

5.  Jump, the net will appear. It takes courage to leave a job that is paying your bills and commit to doing what you love. It sometimes takes courage to leave relationships that no longer make you happy.

It takes courage and lots of faith to commit to making decisions not based on fear. Take that courage. 

I think if you follow all of the steps listed above, finding the courage will be easy. I almost dare to say it will happen automatically. At least that is what happened to me.

You may be wondering at this point as to what we should be based on when making decisions, if not on fear; and how can we make decisions based on ‘love’ in a business environment? Typically, most business organizations have 3 types of statements; mission, vision and values that serve as governing tools to help guide the organization in creating the future for their business. The organization's vision is all about where we are headed, what is possible, and all about that potential. The mission is what we will do to get there and what it takes to make that vision come true. Furthermore, if your goal is to create the future of your organization - the lofty goals of your vision statement - then you will want to ensure your work reflects the values you want to see in your business; meaning that your decision making is values based.

Values are deeply held views of what we find worthwhile. They come from many sources: parents, religion, schools, peers, people we admire, and culture. Many go back to childhood. There are others we learn as adults. As with all mental models, there’s a distinction between our “espoused” values, which we profess to believe in, and our “values in action” which actually guide our behaviors. These latter values are coded into our brains at such a fundamental level that we can’t easily see them. We rarely bring them to the surface or question them. That’s why they can create dissonance for us.  Talking about our values can help us to understand our motivation behind our actions. Values can be Positive or Potentially Limiting. For example, honesty, trust and accountability are positive values, whereas blame, revenge and manipulation are potentially limiting.

Positive values are known as virtues. These are the values that emanate from the soul. Potentially limiting values emanate from the conscious or subconscious fear-based beliefs of the ego.

The behaviors associated with potentially limiting values support the ego in meeting its needs. Blame is seen by the ego as a way of avoiding humiliation. Revenge is seen by the ego as a way of getting even. Manipulation is seen by the ego as way of maneuvering to get its needs met.

Personal mastery involves letting go of the ego’s limiting values, and replacing them with the values (virtues) of the soul. In order to let go of your limiting values you must learn how to manage, master or eliminate your fear-based beliefs. When we uncover our values they allow us to transcend the belief structures of our parental and cultural conditioning, so we can become more fully who we are, and live a more authentic life.

Leaders with well-developed emotional self-awareness are more effective intuitive decision makers. In complex situations, intuitive decision makers process large amounts of sometimes unstructured and ambiguous data, and they choose a course of action based on a "gut feeling" or a "sense" of what's best. This type of decision making is becoming more important for managers as the rate of change and the levels of uncertainty and complexity in their competitive environments increase. Managers who are highly emotionally self-aware are better able to read their "gut feelings" and use them to guide decisions.

Live with love, live with purpose, passion, and values!