When asked to lead a workshop on the keys to success in business, I came up with a theory. The truth is, I wanted the group of 80 people to wrestle with their own definitions of success and envision their own personal success story. So how to achieve this?

In order to inspire, I decided the workshop needed to begin with an authentic story. My story about labels.

The intent was not to have people learn more about me. I wanted my vulnerability to give them a story for context, that might help them see their own pursuit of success in business differently.

In order to prepare, I drew a timeline of my career, making hash marks for each defining moment that played into my personal success. What story could I share to inspire? And then it hit me.

Without getting detailed about every defining moment, the surprising realization was that the majority of these moments were negative or at least at the time, felt like significant challenges. And therein lies the magic. Looking at these events now from the zoomed-out perspective, I realized that each of these events wascatalytic in shaping a stronger, more unique version of me. Each one now plays an important role in my career and personal success. I will share in greater detail below. But first

A refreshing and more realistic perspective on success:

Lifes challenges could have been my excuse. Instead, success and amazing opportunities were born each time I began to accept each challenge as a unique gift.

My personal success story continues to unfold but heres what I realized. Accepting default labels from lifes challenges can easily limit your aimif you allow it.

I could have let life label me as the rejected, inexperienced, remote employee. But I didnt.

The keys to success come from:

Heres how that looks for me:

As an example, I went from not being hired by Block Imaging as a receptionist to now serving as their Senior Vice President of Marketing.

As another example, I went from being a remote employee very removed from the team. to instigator of content marketing culture. It was because I was so removed from my team that I had to figure out ways of staying connected digitally and building trust and influence from afar. Overcoming this challenge is the very reason I was able to imagine a content marketing culture that empowers every employee to better connect with our industry through online content.

So now its your turn. Draw up your own timeline and see which defining moments stand out. How can you use each challenge for good to empower you to get a clearer picture of why you do what you do and to help others in your journey to pursue success?

Read this article:
Keys to Success in Business and Your Personal Success

At Organic Roots, we believe in promoting and participating in a healthy lifestyle through organic food & family. We offer our customers the finest selection of local, organic produce as well as all natural food products, healthy & body care, and supplements.Organic Roots also has a wide selection of all natural food products for specialized diets: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo, low carbohydrate and more. We serve the needs of each unique customer by carrying a variety of products not available at your local grocery store. Our friendly staff is available to help you find exactly what you need and if we dont have it, well do our best to get it for you!In addition, Organic Roots offers our customers an all-natural deli, serving sandwiches, salads, soup & chili, cold case salads, sliced meats & cheeses, hot meals, burritos, and more! We have a fresh, all natural juice bar, an organic fair trade coffee bar & an all gluten free bakery! We also have a full service meat & seafood department, offering free range poultry, grass fed & finished beef, and much more!At Organic Roots we believe in being socially responsible and actively involved in our community, through such means as supporting our schools, promoting environmental groups and practices, contributing to charities, and educating our customers on organic and natural foods.

Learn more about our organic and natural food store in Temecula, California

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Organic Roots Natural Food Store in Temecula with organic ...

That program youre followingthe one you lovemay be more harmful than beneficial. Or maybe, with some slight alterations, that program is exactly what you need. Thats why Nick developed Your Workout PERFECTED. Its a unique and cooperative approachone that works to improve, not replace, your routine.

Inside, there are 243 exercises and 71 programs to develop your fitness, promote fat loss, improve your function and performance, or work on your physique, including beginner workout programs for those who are just starting and even alternative home or hotel gym workouts and bodyweight workouts. Plus, youll learn the following:

The mistakes you may already be making Minor changes to techniques that can produce big results Why certain exercises are preferable over others Whether men and women should be trained differently Exercises to avoid and proven principles to follow Combinations and sequences to maximize results

Every weekend warrior has two goals: compete successfully and look great doing it. Enter Building Muscle & Performance: The Program for Strength, Size, and Speed.

No fads, gimmicks, or miracle claims.

Just science-based programming, sensible strategies, and the results you desire.

The rest is here:
Performance U. Personal Trainer Continuing Education ...

What happens when the worlds leading Personal Trainers takes over Sydneys leading Personal Training gym, Clean Health? After a million dollar upgrade you get UP Sydney and a culture of maximum results in minimum time that Australias most international city has long been crying out for.

Sydney is full of great gyms of that there can be no doubt, but its not full of great Personal Training gyms in the UP mould.

There has never been a high quality gym that catered to the serious trainer, to the man or woman who wanted to get something a little extra from their gym sessions and who didnt take a little extra to mean a bank of plasma screens in which to watch MTV whilst they spin their wheels not losing body fat on the exercise bikes. Yes, there are both plenty of hardcore bodybuilding gyms and scores of smaller PT studios, but none of these have the qualities of a UP gym.

What makes UP Sydney so unique is that we have created a gym environment and venue where any Olympic athlete could train, but we have designed it for so-called regular people who want maximise the efficiency of the limited time that they can exercise and achieve results in months, or even weeks, that usually take years.

We are not trying to talk down Sydneys Personal Training studios, but they all cater more for other professional trainers needs above ordinary people. Weightlifting, powerlifting and Ido Portal inspired bodyweight training are all excellent forms of exercise, but they are not optimal tools for rapidly changing your body composition. And it is that ability to rapidly improve our clients bodies that has seen UP heralded as the worlds leading personal trainers, and pushed us become the only international PT business on the planet with gyms stretching from Los Angeles and London, to Dubai, Hong Kong and Australia.

Why do we think our Sydney personal training gym is so special? Lets look at the list of reasons:

Can we back up these extravagant claims? Have a quick look at our Real Results and Testimonials pages to make up your own mind.

Originally posted here:
Personal Training in Sydney CBD - Ultimate Performance Sydney

Thanks to the physical transformations we produce and the endorsements we have received, the Ultimate Performance name is synonymous worldwide with startling improvement in body fat levels, muscle mass, and overall body composition. Every single day I receive scores of emails and Facebook messages from all over the world, where people just like you are desperate for hard-hitting advice that produces real and quantifiable results.

My goal has always been to help as many people as possible to realize the eminently achievable goal of significantly lowered body fat and pleasing muscle shape and definition, and I am absolutely evangelical in wanting to spread the gospel of how to really train for results that actually shout to the world I workout, and I workout smart and hard!

I appreciate that getting to see us in our gyms isnt always possible or even affordable. Because of the results that we are famous for achieving we are amongst the most sought after, and admittedly expensive, personal trainers in the world. But, I want to give as many people as possible the chance to benefit from the knowledge we have developed at Ultimate Performance, after years and years of work and thousands of successful transformations.

I have seen so many unsuspecting, nave trainees palmed off with promises of spectacular changes if they only buy this one, funny-looking contraption. And dont even get me started on the fantastically well marketed but wholly limited bodyweight and interval training craze amongst internet marketers who masquerade as fitness experts!

This is a bespoke programme that gives you unprecedented access to the training methods, nutritional regimes and supplement protocols we use right here in the gym. No gimmicks, no fads just proven methods that, with your hard work, will get you the results you are looking for.

We should warn you that we expect a lot from our clients. We expect even more from our Online clients. Our focus is absolutely unwavering and is not for everyone. We will do everything necessary to get results, and we do not take passengers.

Follow this link:
Online Personal Training - Ultimate Performance

YOU ARE A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL BEING... operating in many levels of awareness. You know when you are hungry or if you are feeling an intense emotion ...maybe even having a negative thought or two. But do you know when you are expanding into a higher vibration...or if you are in denial or....your soul needs to journey to gain wisdom and healing? Do you know when it is time to receive a gift from Divinity or expand one of your inner healing gifts? What if you had a map, a guidance system, with directions that you could reference located right inside yourself? What if, by knowing exactly what aspect of your awareness needed attention, you could exponentially speed up your evolutionary process? What if that map was....inside of you, waiting to be discovered and put to use on a daily basis? Please consider the following information......

The Five Realms of Consciousness, with their 220 levels of awareness exist as a reflection of what is deep within us. Readily enough we can perceive ourselves reflected in the physical, emotional and mental states. Students of healing may have an awareness of the seven charkas. Others may be familiar with the concepts of our Shadow self, Maya ( Illusion), the Void or the Collective Unconscious. Do we understand where these fields of energy fit in to our personal cosmology? Can we grasp where they relate to each other on the harmonic scale of vibration? These are all questions answered by PanHarmonics map of The Five Realms of Consciousness.

Many on the spiritual path experience evolving and expanding their awareness through meditation, yoga, movement and energy work. While many have guidance through a spiritual teacher, others are drawn to access their spiritual path from a number of sources. It is for these aspirants that the PanHarmonic Map is offered.

The PHH map is divided into five realms of consciousness. There are progressively subtle levels of awareness within each of those five realms.

Lets explore the main features of that grid.

For more information about the Five Realms please access:

Conscious Realm Integrating Ordinary Reality Levels 1-22Unconscious Realm Delving into Non-Local Reality Levels 1-22 Depth Reality: Journey to the Divine Feminine Levels 23-100 Superconsciousness: The Sacred Laws of the Divine Masculine Levels 23-100 The Sacred All: Spiritual Powers for Ascension Levels 1-20

Imagine a sphere where you are located in the very middle. All around you are increasing levels of subtle energy, superimposed on each other, expanding out into the Cosmos. This describes the essence of how your energy is perceived and maintained on multiple levels of consciousness.

You experience the physical world with your five senses. You experience the world of body functions by observing breathing, elimination, heart rate, digestion etc. You feel and express your emotions when they arise. You may even observe your thoughts, although most of our thoughts are unconscious.

This is how you perceive the first four levels of the PHH Map. Now, imagine there are 216 more levels to your awareness! These multiple levels of awareness are vibrating around you at all times, with or without your awareness. Yet this Universe of vibration affects us profoundly in all ways: our health, our mental and emotional wellbeing and of course, our awareness of ourselves as spiritual beings.

Through PanHarmonic Healing, we learn to access the expanded states of vibration and navigate through our own path of evolution. We begin our exploration in the second realm of awareness, the Unconscious Realm.

Level I of the PanHarmonic training Attuning Your Energy Field begins by learning to access the energy field around us using various tools. We then attune the energy field so that it functions as a bridge between normal and expanded states of awareness. The training removes past shocks and traumas and reorganizes, activates and tunes the electro-magnetic field around us. This training increases cognitive abilities, enhances our healing abilities, organizes our energy field and gives us spiritual tools for staying in balance in day-to-day life. This is a critical first step on any path of evolution for spiritual awareness.

Level 2 of PanHarmonic Healing moves to the Conscious Realm, exploring the Body Code and Emotional Programs. Through Evolution Through Emotional Healing, the student experiences how emotions are direct indicators of our state of awareness. By clearing negative emotions as they arise, we learn to remain in the present moment. Emotional reactions arise from past unresolved issues that cloud our awareness. By clearing our emotions, we can accelerate our evolution to become clear channels for higher vibrations. These two trainings alone give practitioners critical tools for accelerated learning and evolution on their spiritual path.

Each new level of training expands the practitioners access to the map. In addition, group sessions provide advanced learning training, so that each practitioner is rewired energetically to learn more efficiently and gracefully.

The intent of PanHarmonic Healing Seminars is to provide a view into all known worlds that we have access to as humans. By understanding how we both exist in and bring through the energy of the Five Realms into this world, we expand our consciousness and the consciousness on our planet. Never has this been more important for the survival of the human consciousness.

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THE FIVE REALMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS - PanHarmonic

inner peace quotes, time quotes,zen quotes

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This moment is all there is. Rumi

The next message you need is always right where you are. Ram Dass

He who is filled with love is filled with God himself. Saint Augustine

At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it. Thich Nhat Hanh

The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love. Marianne Williamson

Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself. Hermann Hesse

When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you. Stephen Richards

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul. Swami Vivekananda

Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved. Jane Goodall

When you realize there is no lacking, the whole world belongs to you. Lao Tzu

God will not look you over for medals, degrees or diplomas but for scars. Elbert Hubbard

It is in our wild nature that we best recover from our un-nature, our spirituality. Friedrich Nietzsche

I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer. Martin Luther

A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond and must be polished, or the luster of it will never appear. Daniel Defoe

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. Henry Miller

I choose gentleness Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself. Max Lucado

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. Elizabeth Kbler-Ross

Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage. Ramana Maharshi

If a man is to live, he must be all alive, body, soul, mind, heart, spirit. Thomas Merton

The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it. Henri J.M. Nouwen

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the now the primary focus of your life. Eckhart Tolle

Being at ease with not knowing is crucial for answers to come to you. Eckhart Tolle

Nurture great thoughts, for you will never go higher than your thoughts. Benjamin Disraeli (This is one of my favorite spiritual quote. Leave a reply hereand let me know whats yours!)

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The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Albert Einstein

Equanimity arises when we accept the way things are. Jack Kornfield

The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself. Anais Nin

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Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens. Carl Jung

The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. Ludwig van Beethoven

The Way is not in the sky; the Way is in the heart. Buddha

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. Dalai Lama

It isnt until you come to a spiritual understanding of who you are not necessarily a religious feeling, but deep down, the spirit within that you can begin to take control. Oprah Winfrey

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this. Henry David Thoreau

Nothing is, unless our thinking makes it so. William Shakespeare

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. William Shakespeare

It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. Mahatma Gandhi

Physical strength can never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force. Franklin D. Roosevelt

I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. John Lennon

When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love. Marcus Aurelius

This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in eternal awareness or pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity. Voltaire

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind. Albert Einstein

The greater the doubt, the greater the awakening. Albert Einstein

The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself. Michel de Montaigne

Awakening is not changing who you are, but discarding who you are not. Deepak Chopra

More famous quotes

You may also likeinspirational quotesmotivational quoteslove quoteshappiness quoteslife quotes

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One liners, short spiritual quotes, thoughts and captions for your bio, social status, self-talk, motto, mantra, signs, posters, wallpapers, backgrounds, tattoos, SMS, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.

I close my eyes in order to see. Paul Gauguin

Forever is composed of nows. Emily Dickinson

Wake up and live. Bob Marley

Let the breath lead the way. Sharon Salzberg

I am realistic I expect miracles. Wayne Dyer

Do anything, but let it produce joy. Walt Whitman

The Holy Land is everywhere. Black Elk (Native American)

Let the measure of time be spiritual, not mechanical. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be guided by spirit and not driven by ego. Unknown

There is nothing more important than this moment. Unknown (Submitted by the Wisdom Quotes Community)

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. Francis of Assisi

For it is in giving that we receive. Francis of Assisi

Everything in the world was my Guru. Ramana Maharshi

Quiet the mind and the soul will speak. Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

Spiritual progress is like a detoxification. Marianne Williamson

Reach for a thought that feels better. Abraham Hicks

Your thoughts become things. Rhonda Byrne

Your thoughts are the primary cause of everything. Rhonda Byrne

Be here, now! Ram Dass

When you make a choice, you change the future. Deepak Chopra

Dont try to steer the river. Deepak Chopra

God finds himself by creating. Rabindranath Tagore

More short quotes

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You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible. Deepak Chopra

When a man is willing and eager, the Gods join in. Aeschylus

Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached. Swami Vivekananda

And the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. W.B. Yeats

Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path. Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance. Elder Wisdom

Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvelous work. It is fearlessness that brings Heaven even in a moment. Swami Vivekananda

I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man to depend simply upon himself. Shooter Teton Sioux (Native American)

One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, I love you, Im sorry, I appreciate you, Im proud of youwhatever youre feeling. Send random texts, write a cute note, embrace your truth and share itcause a smile today for someone elseand give plenty of hugs. Steve Maraboli

You and your purpose in life are the same thing. Your purpose is to be you. George Alexiou

I am convinced that the jealous, the angry, the bitter and the egotistical are the first to race to the top of mountains. A confident person enjoys the journey, the people they meet along the way and sees life not as a competition. They reach the summit last because they know God isnt at the top waiting for them. He is down below helping his followers to understand that the view is glorious where ever you stand. Shannon L. Alder

You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that Gods creative principle works in you. Paramahansa Yogananda

Bring into play the almighty power within you, so that on the stage of life you can fulfill your high destined role. Paramahansa Yogananda

The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you really are. Carl Jung

If your intention is powerful, your action will be powerful. If your action is powerful, your results will be powerful. Unknown

The real spiritual progress of the aspirant is measured by the extent to which he achieves inner tranquility. Swami Sivananda

Original post:
350 Best Spiritual Quotes That Will Enrich Your Life

TheCultural Transformation Tools(CTT) are powerful diagnostic instruments that help leaders measure and manage their cultures. The Cultural Transformation Toolsare accessible to anyone who has become CTT certified.

Learn more about the Cultural Transformation Tools.

Learn more about our CTT Training Offerings.

Find a CTT Certified Consultant in your area.

CTT Training is offered in a variety of languages, locations, and dates. Pleaseclick here to find out when the next CTTtraining is in your area or in a virtual format.We encourage you to find out more by making contact withthe instructor of the course you are thinking about attending.

We offer a CTT Part 1 - Foundation Course,a CTT Part 2 - Building a Values-Driven OrganisationCourse, a CTT Combined 1&2 Course, and a CTT Practitioner Course in either face-to-faceor virtual formats.Learn more about ourCTT training courses.

Once you have found the course dates that best fityour schedule, please click on the title of the course where you will findmorecourse information.Please then click theblue "Register Now" button, which will take you to our registration form. Once you have submitted the registration form, the instructorwill contact you within 1-2 business days.

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Cultural Transformation Tools Training | Barrett Values Centre

I am lying on a mat, looking up at the bright blue of the skylight above me. I exhale purposefully, then let my lungs reinflate of their own accord. I am trying hard to concentrate on this slightly counterintuitive way of breathing, but the voices in my head are distracting me. They are telling me about business regulation, specifically about the inhibitory effect of hairdresser licensing in Utah.

I do not, as a rule, make New Year resolutions. As an anxious person, the 12 months that lie ahead of New Years Eve do not fill me with excitement or anticipation. I just wonder what else could go wrong. I am as susceptible as the next person to notions of promise, to the idea that, with the right effort, I could become fitter, smarter, happier, better. But each new December, as I coast towards the end of the year on squeaky wheels, I find myself feeling the same way: older, wiser, worse.

Its the time and effort involved that puts me off most kinds of self-improvement. Many years ago, I signed up for an online life-coaching course, and when I complained about the difficulty of one of the exercises Id been sent I was meant to make a list of my qualities, keeping to the strict format I am (quality) the instructor immediately replied by email, saying, Yes, this is REAL WORK, isnt it? I thought: I already have a job, thanks.

I am drawn to the quick fix. Could it be possible to cram a years self-improvement into a few minutes of effort a day?

In recent years, however, a new school of selfimprovement has sprung up, one that seems to recognise that, frankly, most of us are too busy to be better. Books with titles such as The 10-Minute Millionaire, The 5-Minute Healer, 10 Minutes To Better Health and 10 Minutes A Day To A Better Marriage represent, if not a global revolution in self-improvement, at least a reliable publishing trend.

I am ineluctably drawn to the quick fix. Could it be possible to cram a years self-improvement into a few minutes of effort a day, to get the whole business out of the way before the end of January? It cant do any harm to try, can it?

***

My first self-improvement guide is a new book called 15 Minutes To Happiness by Richard Nicholls. My first thought is that 15 minutes sounds a lot, especially when somebody else is promising to make me a millionaire in 10, but Nicholls book is full of quick exercises interspersed with longer explanations of why and how they work. Some of the exercises are designed to fix problems I dont think I have, so Im pretty sure I can skip ahead.

Nicholls posits a model for happiness that I find reassuring. He stresses the value of negative thinking. He says that actively seeking happiness can often end up making people feel less happy. On page 49 he writes: Be open to the possibility that you bought this book and you dont actually need it. This, I think, is my kind of self-help.

Here and there Nicholls inserts a quick happiness boosting idea, designed to give you an injection of contentment as and when you need it. In the chapter on gratitude, for example, he suggests you take a moment or two to send a text message to someone thanking them for being a part of your life. I embarked on a preliminary challenge: trying to find someone anyone in my list of contacts I could send a text like that, without having to send an immediate follow-up apology text: Sorry about that I was only following orders.

Heres another: Put your town name into JustGiving.com and see who is raising money for a good cause in your local area. Even if you dont donate anything to anyone, spending time looking at the good thats going on in your town will dilute any doom and gloom youve picked up from elsewhere.

I tried this one it was incredibly easy, and it did make me feel slightly happier. It ended up costing me 30 (donated anonymously, because thats the kind of person I am now), but the feeling lasted for almost four hours.

A dozen years ago, I had an hour-long session with a yoga instructor, and when I asked what sort of benefits I could expect, he promised that yoga would bring me joy. I hadnt even considered this possibility, but I liked the sound of it. I will try this yoga, I thought. And when I get my joy, everyone else can go to hell.

Then I went to one of his classes in a London studio, full of supple people in leggings, and found the whole experience nerve-racking and humiliating. It wasnt relaxing at all. It was like auditioning for Cats.

So Im done doing yoga in front of people, but a book called The 10 Minute Yoga Solution raises the possibility that I could get my joy in the privacy of my home, quietly and quickly. The author, Ira Trivedi, makes a lot of bold claims: she says that 10 minutes of yoga a day will not just make me calmer and more physically fit, it will improve my eyesight, control unhealthy eating habits and cure a multitude of hair problems (its all about blood flow to the scalp). She also mentions joy, if only in passing.

The book itself has very few words in it. It is simply a collection of illustrated poses or asanas with instructions, grouped into workouts tailored to specific requirements. Again, I find myself in a position to skip bits: yoga for women, for kids, for weight loss, for fasting, for binge-eating. I like the sound of yoga for lazy people and yoga for hangovers, but for the moment I am concentrating on yoga for beginners: eight poses, 10 minutes in all.

I wasnt sure what to expect from a basic, self-administered yoga programme, but I hadnt expected it to hurt quite so much. Sitting cross-legged hurts. The seated spinal twist hurts. Even the shavasana, the so-called corpse pose lying flat on your back, arms and legs spread, palms up, toes pointing out hurts. I am, I discover, a collection of small aches. As instructed, I contract the muscles in my feet and then relax them. My toes refuse to uncurl. Ten minutes begins to seem like an age.

***

There are, of course, a lot of self-improvement podcasts available I found one titled simply You Suck: Be Better. Another, created by a former lawyer, suggested that I think of my time as if it were broken down into billable hours, so I learn to prize it more. Id rather use my headphone time to acquire some actual information. Ive got the happy book and the yoga routine already. What I really require is a little knowledge.

There is a solution: it turns out you can just speed a podcast up. At first I thought: who would do this?

Ive always resisted the idea of learning more about economics. It was a passive resistance I just wasnt that interested in the subject but maybe, armed with the right podcast and a decent set of headphones, I could enter into a new phase of passive learning. By common consent, NPRs Planet Money is one of the best economics podcasts going. I havent listened to many well, any but Planet Money is entertaining, informative and aimed squarely at the layman. Its not a primer, but more of a fun way to engage with what for many remains an off-putting subject. I encounter no mathematics.

But theres a lot of it: two years worth, with a new episode posted every couple of days. Where to begin? Whats more, the average length of each instalment is close to 20 minutes, which, in todays self-improvement environment, is positively leisurely. There is a solution: it turns out you can just speed a podcast up. At first I thought: who would do this? But lots of people do it. My own children, it transpires, routinely listen to sped-up recordings of their university lectures in order to save time. I had to download a new app to acquire the facility, but I can now listen to Planet Money at three times the original speed. Actually, I cant its pretty well unintelligible at that clip but I soon find that if I spend a few minutes trying to keep up with the podcast at double speed, it then sounds perfectly normal at a more relaxed one-and-a-half times. Within a few days, Ive worked my way up to 1.8x. Over the course of a week, I grow increasingly impatient with the pace of actual human conversation. Spit it out, I want to say.

My impersonation of a corpse is so convincing that I worry about my wife walking in and finding me

A week in, I rise (10 minutes) early and run through my yoga positions, beginning with some breathing: inhale the future, exhale the past, as the book says. I move on to the spinal twist and the shoulder stand. The corpse pose no longer hurts; in fact, my impersonation of a corpse is so convincing that I worry about my wife walking in and finding me. He died doing what he loved, she would think. Express yoga.

I listen to a podcast about robots taking over our jobs on my way to and from the shops; about 1.6x makes it the right length for the journey. Back at home, I sit down to settle on my next 15-minute happiness task. Deciding often takes longer than 15 minutes, because I reject a few out of hand. Going through Nicholls book, I come across the following passage: If were grateful for life then we cant be fearful, which means that any anxiety we experience gets processed as excitement instead. If were grateful, then we act out of a sense that we have enough rather than out of a sense of scarcity or envy.

He goes on to suggest spending 15 minutes writing about some positive things that have happened to you. I am extraordinarily resistant to this idea. I only like writing about bad things that have happened to me, in part because I know I will never run out. At first, I cant even think of any recent positive experiences, but after a few minutes, I recall a long and mostly tedious drive to Exeter the previous week.

Time is becoming an issue. It occurs to me that I might double up on some of this improvement

I was thinking about nothing but my destination when I came upon Stonehenge at sunset, the stones glistening in the low, pink light. At that moment, traffic slowed to a crawl, enabling me to get a long look. This is free, I thought. A wondrous thing to marvel at, and I havent driven an inch out of my way. After 10 minutes, the traffic cleared and I was off again, feeling strangely moved. And then I forgot all about it.

The exercise takes 20 minutes from start to finish too long. I recall that email from the life coach This is REAL WORK, isnt it? I begin to think of my time in terms of billable hours.

***

Time is becoming an issue. Ten minutes of yoga is one thing, but when you add in a happiness exercise and the 12 minutes it takes me to listen to a 20-minute podcast, youre talking about nearly a whole hour. It occurs to me that I might double up on some of this improvement.

There is a certain amount of natural overlap. Both 15 Minutes To Happiness and The 10 Minute Yoga Solution stress the importance of breathing, and the exercises are not dissimilar. But focus is the key to both, and the focal points are different. Its harder to mix mindfulness and stillness than it sounds. Add in a podcast explaining what GDP is, and the whole thing becomes an exercise in frustration. I am reminded, to my eternal disappointment, that there are no quick fixes.

After a fortnight of this, I would have to say the improvements have been marginal: some extra flexibility here, a little more gratitude there, a lot more to say when the subject of GDP next comes up at a dinner party. The Nicholls book is worth a read even if you do none of the exercises, if only to come away with the knowledge that the successful pursuit of happiness mainly involves not trying too hard. Its not unrealistic to think that in stopping trying to be happy, you can find that youre happy enough already, he writes. Paradoxically, it could be that the only reason for you being unhappy is your relentless attempt at trying not be.

And Ive learned the lesson I was always going to learn, only faster: stop making New Year resolutions. Again.

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Editors note: As Creation magazine has been continuously published since 1978, weare publishing some of the articles from the archives for historical interest, such as this. For teaching andsharing purposes, readers are advised to supplement these historic articles with more up-to-date ones suggested in the Related Articles and Further Reading below.

By G.J. Keane

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Pierre Teilhard de Chardins most obvious claim to fame was his overwhelming acceptance of evolution, and an unquestionable passion to try to fit Christianity into it.

He was born in Auvergne, France, in 1881 and entered the Catholic Society of Jesus at 18. He spent the next three years teaching physics and chemistry at Cairo, followed by four years theological training at Hastings, England. He developed a seemingly unquenchable thirst for palaeontology and spent much of his adult life in China searching for mans evolutionary ancestors. He was involved in the excavation of the so-called Peking Man in 1929. Throughout his life he found he was unable to totally harmonize traditional Catholicism with the scientific framework of evolution, and incapable of openly flouting the orders of his superiors.

In the end he became Chardin the mystic, and his thoughts were published only after his death.

But Teilhard was also involved in the Piltdown hoax. This skull, which was later discovered by workers at the British Museum to have been made of parts of a human skull and the jaw of an orang-utan, had been chemically stained to indicate great age, and the teeth filed to resemble human teeth. A probing yet charitable analysis of Teilhards probable role in the hoax has been published by prominent evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould.1

Teilhards unquestioning acceptance of evolution, together with his passion for mysticism, led him to propose ideas which were clearly incompatible with the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church. He had entered the priesthood in 1899, only 30 years after the First Vatican Council (1870), which stated:

After having studied 10 years for the priesthood, Teilhard would have been familiar with the 1870 Catholic position against evolution. Despite this he was convinced evolution was true.

Further, he believed strongly that a church which accepted the Genesis account of Creation was wedded to an outmoded and unscientific outlook. In his framework, such a Church was out of touch with reality and would lag behind the rest of the world as it plunged into the 20th century. He felt it was vital for the church to adapt its theology to harmonise with modern evolutionary theory.3

Such a harmony became his lifes mission and the end product was his formulation of a mystical evolutionary theology.

The church, until the time of Charles Darwin, had promoted an objective creation-based view of reality. In other words, the universe is comprised of real, distinct things. Chardin sought to change this! He proposed that the universe did not consist of real things, since everything was evolving and converging towards a future goal called Omega. The only thing that must give it unity, therefore, is the spiritual or mystical realm. God must be the only unifying force. According to Teilhard, God somehow inserted himself into the evolutionary process, and Christ the force drawing everything towards the goal of Omega.

He did not accept the God of Genesis who was clearly portrayed as the Creator of all things.

De Chardin wrote:

His ideas have been the centre of much controversy within and without the Catholic Church. His most definitive work,The Phenomenon of Man (published by others after his death), contains Chardins so-called scientific treatise. It outlines all of his standard evolutionary facts and simply glosses over difficult questions.

The origin of the Earth he stated was purely accidental:

The origin of the first cell provided no problem to de Chardin. He wrote:

On the reproduction of cells, he claims that:

For the evolution of mans consciousness he proposed the concept of noogenesis. He stated:

For Teilhard, evolution is so central to truth that the word creation does not even rate inclusion in his books index. He wrote:

And where does original sin fit into Teilhards views? There is no mention of Adam, Eve, Satan or the term original sin in his book. And without original sin, there is no need of the Saviour Christ, and without a need of a Saviour, there can be no Christian Church.

De Chardin has become a cult figure to many after his death, particularly to academic evolutionists among Catholics and Anglicans. Many still believe his ideas were ahead of his time, and that his thinking will inevitably be accepted by the official teaching bodies of the Catholic Church. The reality is however that his confused speculation has only contributed to further obscuring the notion that God has revealed objective truth to man through the Holy Scriptures. Mysticism has always resulted in common sense being replaced by nonsense.

Teilhards speculative theories were not scientific, but metaphysical! They depended for plausibility upon evolution being historically true. As the credibility of evolution theory diminishes, his writings reduce to highly imaginative anti-Christian fantasy. During his lifetime Chardin was refused permission to publish his theories, and in fairness to him it must be stated that he remained obedient to his superiors.

As one Catholic theologian has pointed out: Teilhards fundamental error was to seek for something more elementary than being as the basis of his metaphysics. He thought he had found it in the concept of unification, but he was mistaken Created being is composite and oriented towards an end distinct from itself, not in so far as it is being, but in so far as it is created.12

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Teilhard De Chardin - creation.com