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Written and Narrated by Will T. Wilkinson.
The phrase “Get ready, get set, GO!” describes a formula for effective living. We screw things up when we leave out the middle step, by getting trapped on what I call the “see-do bypass.”
We know we’re stuck on the see-do bypass when we skip the “get set” step to plunge immediately from awareness to action. Or, when we endure situations we don’t enjoy but feel powerless to change them. I’ve challenged my own habits of being impulsive or staying stuck by reversing another well-known phrase to read, “Don’t just do something, stand there!”
In other words, take a moment. Pause. Get set.
Take A Moment To Get Set Before You Hit The Ball
Anyone who golfs, as I do once a week (it’s my Zen practice, all about the mind body connection) understands what happens when you take a moment to get set before you hit the ball. We also know what happens when we don’t!
This is a big part of my love of the game, being able to see immediately how my mind and body are working together (or not) and the miracles that happen when they do. Because, let’s face it, to hit a tiny ball 150 yards with a steel stick and have it land 3 feet from your target… that’s gotta be a miracle (at least for me!).
Knee-Jerk Reactions vs. Feel and Learn
Exiting the see-do bypass to get set involves two other interwoven steps: feel and learn. Imagine the difference. Instead of reacting to circumstances with ingrained knee jerk behaviors or continuing with activities long after we stopped enjoying them, we could pause to feel and then discover what we might learn, which could inspire us to change things up.
The sad fact is that many of us have lived in our heads for so long that it seems unnatural to pause and feel. Who has time for that? We’re busy doing things!
What’s the point? Well, stepping back for a perspective view, we might ask this question: “Would I choose to do this (pick something like being married, working in your current job, or living where you live),
"Would I choose to do this today if I wasn’t already doing it?”
This is a dangerous but liberating question. Daring to ask – especially about significant aspects of our lives - can help us identify and then maybe even escape habitual routines that we failed to question in the first place, which meant that we sort of slid into situations (and sometimes relationships) without pausing to feel - I mean deeply feel - and learn (which might have taken us to a pivotal realization: “No, this is not for me!”).
We just skipped straight from “see” to “do.” We missed getting set. That’s the bypass in action.
A friend told me about a surprising plot twist in his life as a musician’s agent in L.A. He’d set up “the meeting” for one of his young stars, a big break face to face opportunity with some mighty dude in the industry ready to open serious doors for this lad. But the singer blew off the meeting.
Later, he called my friend and explained: “I realized that I don’t want to be a professional singer, I don’t want that life. That was my dad’s dream, it’s not mine.” He paused to get set, he felt that he wasn’t into it, learned he should go for his own dream… and then he acted. Years later my friend met up with him and he was happy as a clam doing something entirely different.
A Simple Formula for Successful Living
See, feel, learn, do… there it is, a simple formula for successful living. It’s something we can apply every day, especially when faced with big decisions or when we become aware that we’re stuck. If you imagine this formula being used in broader ways, the possibilities are fascinating.
For instance, who really likes digital phone answering systems? Sure, it saves money to use A.I. rather than hire phone people, but do any of us really like how impersonal customer service by phone has become? If whoever thought up this idea had paused and felt into what it would be like to replace human touch with recorded android messages… maybe we wouldn’t have developed and deployed that technology so widely.
Stupid example? Well, I’d sure vote for humans if we could rewind the tape and do that one over. Space limitations here prohibit me from providing more examples but I’m sure you can think of a few on your own. Society has developed without enough consideration of the feeling and learning components; and so have aspects of our personal lives.
Changing My World
I can’t change the world but I can change my world. I can choose to leave the see-do bypass instead of trudging along unconsciously or plunging ahead impulsively. I can pause to get set, feel what’s really going on, and learn what to do.
This seems especially important in 2024. Faced with so many threats to normal life, increasing numbers of people are preparing for disruptive future possibilities, like food and water shortages, losing electric power for extended periods, etc. We should probably also become internal “preppers,” by developing dependable techniques for thinking and living, so we will know how to act wisely when challenges arise.
It’s smart to get set for whatever might show up before our crises become acute. We don’t have a crystal ball to anticipate what’s coming but so many signs suggest we’ve got some shadowy terrain to traverse before the Age of Aquarius blossoms into 5D.
Now’s the best time to practice our swing!
Copyright 2024 by Will T. Wilkinson..
Book by this Author: The Success Paradox
The Success Paradox: How to Surrender & Win in Business and in Life
by Gary C. Cooper with Will T. Wilkinson.
The Success Paradox is the improbable story of a life and business transformed, told in a warmly authentic style that says: “I hit rock bottom, I surrendered, I began doing the opposite of what I’d been doing before, miracles happened, and here’s what you can learn from my journey.”
With riveting personal details that illuminate his discoveries, Gary details how he defied the odds – not just to survive but to thrive - by implementing a series of paradoxical strategies, fundamentally opposite to anything he’d ever done before. The result is an inspiring book about what happened to him and a blueprint for readers to experience how to surrender and win in business and life.
Click here for more info and/or to order this hardback book. Also available as a Kindle edition and as an Audiobook.
More books by Will T. Wilkinson
About the Author
Will T Wilkinson is the author of over 20 published books. His latest, The Success Paradox, was a number one best seller on the Wall Street Journal list and inspired the creation of a non-profit foundation that Will runs, developing innovative solutions for mental health.
Visit www.openmindfitness.org for a free audio induction program called Refreshing Our Minds.
